Kindred
by Prism0467
Summary: What kind of relationship might two young, ridiculously sexy, effortlessly handsome geniuses have with each other? NejiShika AU OC Yaoi
1. Chapter 1

**Warning**: yaoi, language

**Disclaimer**: It would be wishful thinking on my part.

**A/N:** All right. This story represents my first attempt at _anything_ ShikaNejiShika, written in honor of the first anniversary of the ShikaNejiShika community on Livejournal. It's severely AU and not all the details are firm. I suspect this won't last more than ten very short chapters; I don't have the attention span to accommodate more than that. As always, please accept this humble work of fanfiction in the spirit with which it has been written. Oh, and please—constructive criticism is encouraged; I'm new at this, folks.

* * *

Twenty-six-year-old Shikamaru Nara raised his head from the case file he'd been staring at to check the time on his laptop's monitor. It was 11: 20 P.M. He'd been reading the file so long the words were beginning to run together.

It was dark in the living room of Shikamaru's apartment, save for the light from the small lamp on his desk. It was quiet, save for the hum of the cold air blowing into the room through wall vents. He sat, hunched over the file, silently wondering when the practice fraud had become so popular?! This must be the fourth case of possible insurance fraud he'd been assigned this year. When did being lazy get elevated to _this_ level? Did he miss a meeting?!

Shikamaru let out a long sigh. He removed his reading glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyes were tired; his body was tired. Unfortunately, his mind seemed to have backup generator power—it never got tired. Without the aid of prescription medication, Shikamaru's mind would not permit his body the rest it required for at least another three hours. It was both a blessing and a curse, this brain of his: it was the reason why he was part of _the_ go-to team of his entire department for these types of cases, but also the reason why he kept a bottle of AmbienCR™ next to the bottle of coconut-scented lube on the nightstand.

Shikamaru closed the file and got up from the desk. He lifted his arms in a long stretch that extended his body up to the ceiling. He wore his usual after-work attire, which consisted of a worn-in heather grey tee-shirt with the words 'special investigator' emblazoned across the front in black letters, a pair of old black sweatpants and simple grey slippers. Oh, and the necklace—his specially-made necklace of a thin brown leather cord with the kanji for 'loyalty' hanging from it in sterling silver.

Shikamaru scratched his back while strolling slowly to the kitchen for something to drink. He opened the refrigerator door and squinted while his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness coming from inside. Shikamaru bent to grab the plastic container of water and then closed the door, running a hand through his thick, shoulder-length, wavy brown locks as he turned to grab his glass from the kitchen counter.

The sound of his cell phone ringing almost made Shikamaru drop his water glass. He looked up. His cell phone sat on the desk near the case file he'd been reading. Shikamaru put the water bottle and glass down on the counter before making his way back to the desk to retrieve his phone. He already knew who was calling him at this hour.

Shikamaru picked up the phone and hit the button with one hand, running the other through his hair again.

"Nara here."

"How's it going?" the very male voice on the other end asked. Shikamaru shuddered slightly. He should have been immune to the sound of that voice during late-night cell phone discussions, especially after all this time; but the reality was it still made him shudder, and not in a negative way. As it was, there was already a better than fifty per cent chance he'd be jacking off to the memory of that voice not long from now, and they'd only been talking for a few seconds. Shikamaru heard himself sighing again.

"I swear if this turns out to be another narcissist prick who faked his death because he thought he was too good to pay his own damn bills, I'm going to find another line of work." Shikamaru made his way back to the kitchen as he talked.

"You're not getting jaded on me, are you?" the male voice responded.

"What if I am?" Shikamaru was pouring water into his glass.

"Well," the male voice replied, "you need to get over it. I haven't any more tolerance for this work than you, and I'll be damned if I'm going to do it alone." At this declaration, Shikamaru chuckled.

"You may be better off doing it without me, Neji." Shikamaru drank cold water, loving the way the coolness felt going down his throat. He leaned his back against his kitchen counter and crossed his feet at the ankles, phone to his ear, glass in his hand—and smiled.

"That is absurd. There is no one better suited to what we do than you, Nara."

"Except you."

"Nonsense", Neji stated plainly. The Nara's ability to uncover fraud and solve crimes was nothing short of a superpower. Neji knew his own abilities, while substantial, did not come close. It was one of the rare areas in his life where he could allow himself to be content while knowing he was only second best.

"Okay, Hyuuga. Let's agree that we are each ideally and equally suited to what we do. Fair enough?"

"For the time being." Neji relented. He didn't really want to argue with the Nara; he called his partner to touch base, to compare notes, to make sure he was all right—and to hear his world-weary voice. Neji had been working with the Nara for two years, and he'd grown more and more dependent on the man as time passed…they were both young, exceptionally intelligent, handsome single childless men married to their work; special investigators, and teammates; their very existences validated each other. The bizarre concept that Neji couldn't go to sleep at night if he hadn't spoken to the Nara on the phone, particularly since he'd been with him the entire day, had become even more bizarre reality. This type of dependency wasn't something Neji experienced in any other area of his life, so he had no idea how to deal with it, much less how to interpret it. He only knew he needed to see the Nara, needed to hear the Nara, and wouldn't work without the Nara. It was absolute.

"Dare I to hope you'll get a decent night's sleep tonight, Nara?" Shikamaru put his glass back on the counter and pinched the bridge of his nose again, closing his eyes.

"Not this again."

"Nara, you need to go to sleep. The case will keep until tomorrow, they always do."

"If it were that simple, I'd have been asleep when you called, Neji."

"Why don't you take your medication?"

"Come on, Neji, you _know_ why. This is like a damaged record already." Shikamaru sighed again.

"I'm sorry that I'm repeating myself, but I am concerned for your health. I told you, I won't do this work if you're not my partner, Shikamaru Nara." Shikamaru shuddered again. Hearing Neji say his full name did it to him every time. Somewhere in the back of Shikamaru's mind he suspected that Neji knew this. _Please do it again,_ Shikamaru silently begged. _Say my name like that one more time._

Shikamaru thought he was dreaming the first time he'd laid eyes on Neji all those years ago. They'd both become special investigators at the same time. Shikamaru remembered seeing a tall vision of pale skin and eyes on a beautiful, angelic face shrouded by a sharp contrast of long, shiny dark brown hair. The vision's handshake told Shikamaru he was physically powerful. Then the vision spoke, and Shikamaru shuddered all the way down his spine.

Until that day Shikamaru had not been attracted to men. He told himself that Neji was unique. Funny thing was it turned out to be true. Shikamaru hadn't encountered a man since that had so powerful an effect on him. And he _wanted_ Neji--there was no doubt in Shikamaru's mind about that. He wanted to taste him, to run his fingers through that glossy mane, to hear him talk dirty. Shikamaru wanted to affect Neji the way Neji affected Shikamaru.

But it would all be for nothing if Shikamaru lost his partner. The risk of that crushing blow to Shikamaru's life kept him silent about his feelings.

_I could come and tuck you in,_ Neji thought to himself. It was the Hyuuga's idea of heaven, tucking in the Nara, and then taking watch to ensure he'd get a peaceful night's rest. He imagined how beautiful the Nara would look in his sleep, and it made the Hyuuga smile.

_Gods._

"Wow." Neji blinked, drawn from his daydream by that sound.

"What?"

"What what, Hyuuga? Was that an offer, or a threat?" Neji was confused.

"Was _what_ an offer or a threat, Nara?"

"You suggested coming and tucking me in just now. Was that an offer, or a threat?" Neji, already pale, paled even more. _Gods on a ship, did I just say that out loud?_

"Nara, I—er, that is I'm just—" _Gods,_ Shikamaru thought to himself. In all the time he'd known the Hyuuga he'd never heard him say anything even remotely suggestive to anyone, not even in the line of duty—and he'd _never_ heard him this flustered before. He had only been teasing the Hyuuga! Shikamaru was delighted. A flustered Neji was an adorable thing, even over a cell phone.

"Neji, relax. It's okay. I was only teasing." But now the Hyuuga couldn't help but wonder what the Nara's answer would have been had he, in fact, been making an offer?

Neji and Shikamaru both realized their conversation was navigating untread waters; it was time to end it.

"Listen, Nara—"

"Listen, Hyuuga—" they both spoke at the same time. It was _really_ time to end it.

"We're both tired," Neji continued in as calm a voice as he could muster under the circumstances, "I'm going to bed. Please try to get some sleep, Nara."

"Piece of cake, Hyuuga. I'll see you in the morning."

"Right." The sound of the connection being broken was heard in Shikamaru's ear before he hung up his cell phone.

It was a full five seconds before Shikamaru realized he was fully erect. As he walked from his kitchen to his bedroom rubbing his cell phone against his clothed erection, he wondered what kind of person would it take to satisfy a man like Neji Hyuuga—mind, body and spirit?

Shikamaru walked into his bedroom and closed the door. In light of the conversation he'd had with his partner, tonight's masturbation session would be _particularly_ intense.

Neji closed his cell phone and contemplated tossing the thing across the room. Instead he plugged it into his charger and made himself comfortable on his bed. Whatever possessed him to utter those words aloud? And what must the Nara be thinking? If Neji knew Shikamaru, then he knew the Nara suspected nothing. Theirs had been a solid working relationship the whole of the past two years. A _successful_ working relationship. Neji had been extra careful not to allow his need for the Nara to disrupt it, even though he'd wondered often if the Nara had a need for him that was tantamount to his own need for the Nara. Shikamaru was so laid back it was disconcerting at times; beyond his work and the occasional dango, who knew what that man needed?

Thoughts of a sleeping Nara resurfaced in Neji's mind, except this time, the Nara wasn't tucked in to bed. This time, he was sprawled across it on his stomach, wearing nothing but a pair of black sleeping pants. His tanned back was nude, his well-defined laterals on display for Neji's eyes only. He hugged a pillow as though it were a lover. And his hair—Gods, his hair was down, lying against the nape of his neck, beckoning Neji's hands to weave themselves into it…

The unexpected taste of copper in Neji's mouth alerted him to the fact that he'd been fantasizing about the Nara again_. Gods on a ship!_ _Where did those sexy images come from?! _Neji licked the blood from his lip, and then looked down at the sizable tent in his shorts. _Well, this is new_, he thought to himself.

He could still taste blood.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: many thanks to those who reviewed.

* * *

Neji Hyuuga awoke at the same time every morning, almost without fail. He got up, went to the bathroom, changed from his black sleeping pants into his white workout pants, and in the darkness of a large bedroom he shared with no one, practiced his taijutsu.

Neji was a physically powerful man. Twenty-three years of disciplined training had made him a force to be reckoned with. Neji belonged to a wealthy family who preached discipline as though it were a religion—and practiced it in much the same way as well. In his family, no quarter was given. Asking for it usually meant that you were ridden twice as hard as everyone else for your trouble; surviving that was no small achievement. In the course of Neji's life, there had simply been no tolerance for anything but first place. Nothing existed except _becoming_ the best, and then _remaining_ the best. It was the cornerstone of the Hyuuga existence.

For all that Neji understood, he was the most intelligent, most physically powerful man he knew.

Not surprisingly, though, Neji was raised in a very sheltered environment, away from the harsher realities of life. For all his physical strength and mental acuity, he lacked a pivotal basic understanding of human psychology.

On the one hand, it meant that Neji could calculate the possible outcome of any scenario without the interference of his own emotions. It also meant that no one could manipulate Neji into giving way; it was impossible to play on weaknesses the Hyuuga did not possess.

On the other hand, it meant that Neji would calculate the possible outcome of any scenario without taking into account the emotions of everyone involved. It also meant that Neji didn't socialize beyond what was required to do his job with anyone other than his family. He never visited anyone at their home, or invited anyone to his. Social functions were like breathing water to Neji, something he was simply not naturally equipped to do. It wasn't a weakness, Neji surmised, if the skill wasn't practical to begin with. Neji didn't see a need to be able to socialize. Dating, for example, was something that others did, a ritual in which Neji was disinclined to participate.

It had been an issue for Neji since electing to become an investigator. If he couldn't see it, hear it, taste it, touch it or smell it, then as far as Neji was concerned it didn't exist, and could therefore not be taken into account in the final analysis. Someone as intelligent, powerful, and yes disarmingly beautiful as Neji would have been a waste as an investigator due to a lack of ability to factor in the human element. So, when Neji had been placed on the roster, he was teamed with someone who _counted_ on the human element in all his calculations, someone whose track record for cracking cases had gone unrivalled for the whole of his career.

Neji didn't like his partner at first. Shikamaru appeared to be too laid back and uncaring, quite at odds with Neji's personal ideologies. He looked funny, with his hair pulled neatly up into a single ponytail of spikes and waves near the top of his head that brought to mind the tip of a pineapple. Neji had never been personally acquainted with a man who wore an earring in both ears before. Shikamaru never wore a tie, either. During the shift meeting it was not uncommon to find the Nara with his head down on the desk having a nap. Shikamaru's economy of movement and speech, something for which Neji should have admired him in theory, only served to confuse and, as a consequence, displease Neji. In the beginning of their partnership, Neji found it nearly impossible to reconcile the man with the reputation that preceded him.

Then they were assigned their first case as partners. If Neji hadn't been wide awake the entire time, he would have missed it. He hardly had time to gather his bearings before Shikamaru had broken the case into pieces and cracked it flawlessly. If Neji had been physically capable of expressing awe, he would have sat silently, mouth agape as the Nara laid it all out for the men in their department. What took the average detective or investigator months to analyze had taken the Nara only hours, and that was with no assistance from Neji or anyone else. It was then that Neji began to understand Shikamaru's psychology, and, as a consequence, to understand the psychology of others.

And now, two years later, it was mostly through the Nara that Neji experienced his own humanity.

Beads of sweat formed on the Hyuuga's long, lean, muscular physique as he moved fluidly, gracefully, from one precision taijutsu position to the next in the darkened room. Strands of his long, dark brown hair clung to his sweaty back and shoulders. There was fierceness in his beautiful, pale eyes, clarity of intention that few had ever witnessed up close.

Neji Hyuuga: age 27, wealthy, unmarried, childless, special investigator, prodigy—and a living, breathing phenomenal work of art.

* * *

The morning light crept in through the curtains far too early for Shikamaru's liking. He checked the clock on his bedside table—he'd managed to get two and a half hours of sleep this time, an improvement over the night before. Some days he wished he were normal, like others who only used a small percentage of their brain. Sure, they were morons, but they were morons who could sleep for eight hours in a row.

Shikamaru's eyes roamed the bedside table and the small bottle of prescription medication that sat there. He had opted out of taking the medicine again last night, which meant he'd be a zombie again today. It was nothing new. If he'd taken the medication he'd have gotten more sleep, but then he'd be even more of a zombie. Shikamaru still had regular flashbacks to the day eighteen months ago when he had been driving them to the address of a witness. The next thing he remembered was waking up alone in a hospital room. It was the middle of the night; he was bound in an odd assortment of bandages and feeling a substantial amount of pain. Shikamaru wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not until a nurse walked into the room. Eventually, through a painful process of trial and error, he'd been informed of the circumstances surrounding his hospitalization: Shikamaru had lost consciousness behind the wheel just after driving into an intersection, and their vehicle had been hit almost instantly by a woman in an SUV who had been talking on her cell phone. Neji, who had been sitting in the passenger seat, had had no time to try to prevent the collision. Thank goodness they were at the intersection of a four-way stop in a residential area; no one was driving that fast, so impact could have been much worse. It was enough, however, to land them both in hospital beds with substantial injuries.

The Hyuuga's injuries were such that he had been treated and then monitored for a few hours until it was safe for him to be released from the hospital. Shikamaru, however, didn't wake up until a day later. The doctors determined that the prescription sleep aid he'd been taking had caused him to arbitrarily lose consciousness.

Shikamaru had been put on the AmbienCR™ as an alternative.

Neji understood about Shikamaru's insomnia and encouraged him to take his medication, offering to assume the role of permanent driver in their partnership. But Shikamaru couldn't do it. He had inadvertently hurt Neji, and even though Neji healed quickly and was as good as new, Shikamaru wasn't willing put him at risk again. The little bottle of pills that sat on the nightstand had become a constant reminder of what Shikamaru stood to lose.

* * *

The Nara scratched his back as he made his way to the bathroom of his small apartment. As he stood in position at the commode, memories of the previous night's cell phone conversation flooded his thoughts.

_Neji_.

Shikamaru had been partners with Neji for two years, and even at that, Neji hadn't taken the Nara's good-natured teasing very well. In hindsight, Shikamaru supposed he probably shouldn't have done it. But he couldn't help himself. Images of the mystically beautiful Neji tucking the Nara into bed, wearing only sleeping pants, his hair a thick dark curtain around that pale, muscled body, got the better of him. It was Neji's own fault for making that comment in the first place. And why had he said it? Was he really that concerned about the Nara's sleeping habits? Shikamaru was troubled. Despite how well they worked together, there were still times when the Nara didn't know how to read the Hyuuga. By all accounts, their partnership had been carefully constructed on a foundation of strategically-positioned boundaries. In light of the previous evening's conversation it seemed even more unlikely that the Nara would ever be able to reveal his true feelings for Neji.

Oh, well. Shikamaru had never been one for romantic relationships. His last and most prominent relationship had been a threesome with a lesbian couple! They had all met and befriended each other in college. At first, neither woman was a lesbian; they didn't even know each other. Then, at different points in time, each had become involved in relationships with the Nara. Not six months after the breakup of the second relationship, the two exes met each other, became friends, and eventually fell for each other. It was then they decided that _Shikamaru_ still needed _them_, and more or less dragged him back into the fold.

This threesome went on for six months, and it _definitely_ had its moments. Shikamaru learned a great deal about women in that time. He learned that most women hate pink and love Johnny Depp. He learned that the expression 'size matters' also applies to a wide variety of feminine hygiene products. He learned the hard way not to choose a side when two women with whom he regularly had sex were fighting each other and not to allow a woman who'd been drinking to give him head. Shikamaru was certain he could still feel teeth tracks along the underside of his penis, even after so much time.

The Nara also learned to cook, clean house, and give _remarkable_ oral sex.

Then one day, after six months of extreme emotional highs and lows, the pair decided that _they_ no longer needed _Shikamaru_—or any other man. Both women dismissed him. Neither woman noticed when the Nara left.

Shikamaru had been reluctant to pursue relationships after that.

It was all the same, though. Shikamaru knew that he and Neji had formed a powerful partnership, and did need each other on _some_ level, however negligible. For now, that would have to be enough.

_Neji_. He was almost always Shikamaru's first thought in the morning, even ahead of his work (the thought of which usually came directly after). Maybe the erection Shikamaru had every morning when he awoke wasn't just a coincidence.

Shikamaru finished, and then reached over to turn on his shower with a sigh. There was work to be done…and Neji was waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Many thanks to all who reviewed.

* * *

Morning muster was always an ordeal for the Hyuuga. It was the one time during the day when he was required to be in a room with his fellow investigators, agents, detectives and other random law enforcement liaisons. Even a special investigator could only take so many cops at one time.

Neji was, as always, crisply dressed for business in a suit and tie. His hair was in its usual style, bound near the end by a band the same shade of deep brown as his hair. He never failed to elicit stares when he entered the briefing room each morning, from women or men. Neji simply didn't fit the profile. He was too beautiful for his line of work—too wildly out of place with that long mane of lush, dark brown hair and those pastel eyes. Neji had the kind of looks typically found on models and actors. But Neji didn't have the personality for that kind of work, not that it mattered. Neji was born beautiful, one of a family of equally beautiful and powerfully wealthy people. His good looks, while significant, weren't as rare as people thought and he knew better than most the dangers of seeking out one's destiny in the mirror. Neji might have been born looking the way he did, but his poise, his skill, his intellect, and his physical strength were all something he'd had to work very hard to obtain. In Neji's life, those were the things that counted.

Neji found himself a spot in the room to wait for his partner's arrival and the start of their shift meeting. No sooner had he gotten comfortable in his chair than he found himself sitting next to a tanned, brown-haired blur everyone knew as Kiba Inuzuka.

"Mornin', centerfold. How's life?" the blur spoke with a shit-eating grin. Kiba was assigned with the K-9 patrol and always smelled like the animals that worked with him. Neji turned to look at him with his typical non-expression. They had only ever spoken to each other on extremely rare occasions, and they _never_ sat together during the shift meeting.

"May I help you?" was Neji's disinterested response.

"Not especially", Kiba responded, his smile wilting a little. "I, uh, just thought I'd say hello, it's not often I see you without your partner hermetically sealed to you at the elbow." Neji turned away from the man, looking ahead to the front of the room.

"If you're offering to take his place, I'm not interested, Inuzuka." Kiba chuckled.

"A joke. _Wow._ Who knew you had it in you?" Kiba turned his body in the chair so that he faced Neji, oblivious to the stares and murmuring from the growing number of people in the room who were now observing their interaction with interest.

"You know," Kiba continued in a voice meant for only the Hyuuga to hear, "I'm about 99 sure I could freeze water on your ass. What is with you? It was a greeting, not a request for a blowjob." When his statement garnered no reaction from the man the Inuzuka added, "or is that a partner-only privilege, Hyuuga?"

Neji was taking a silent inventory of the number of different methods he knew of to block the Inuzuka's windpipe so he wouldn't have to hear anymore of his idiotic blathering when a familiar voice responded.

"I'm 100 sure you're gonna die wondering, Inuzuka." Both men jerked their heads up and over in the direction of the voice to find Shikamaru standing there, one hand in the pocket of his pants and the other holding a Styrofoam cup of a steaming beverage. Kiba visibly stiffened at the Nara's comment and stood up to face him, jaw clenched.

Kiba didn't like Shikamaru, for several reasons. There didn't seem to be a case the guy couldn't crack blindfolded in less than three minutes. Kiba didn't know anyone who had achieved the designation of special investigator as fast as the Nara had, and if that wasn't enough, he got to be partnered with the prettiest man Kiba had ever seen in the flesh. The Inuzuka even had to begrudge the Nara the fact that _he_ wasn't too hard on the eyes either. Shikamaru was easily one of the luckiest bastards Kiba knew but acted like none of it mattered, which pissed him off to no end.

"Is that a threat, Nara? Because if it is, you're in way over your head." There was an unmistakable hint of a threat in his statement, at which Shikamaru snorted.

"You wish you mattered that much", The Nara responded and took a sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving Kiba's annoyed expression. "Move along, Fido, you're gettin' dog dander in my chair."

Kiba was feeling explosive. His fists were clenched at his sides. Damn that arrogant prick Neji Hyuuga and his smartass, know-it-all partner! It was then that he noticed the crowd forming around them, watching for the next move. Kiba couldn't do this now, in front of everyone. Shikamaru and Neji were the department's favorite team-up—the Inuzuka would never get promoted if he even so much as breathed on the two of them the wrong way, and he could possibly even have his ass handed to him. While the Nara seemed like a lightweight, Kiba knew the Hyuuga could hold his own. The Inuzuka didn't need to know firsthand what having a guy that beautiful kick the shit out of him in front of their entire department could do to his confidence, to say nothing of what it would surely do to his reputation.

Kiba glared at the Nara, and then cast a glance at the stoic Hyuuga before turning silently and walking off toward the dispersing crowd.

Shikamaru assumed his rightful position in the chair next to Neji and took another sip of his drink. He noted the seat was still warm from where the Inuzuka had been sitting in it, his drink was cooling, the murmuring had died down, and the Hyuuga hadn't spoken a word.

_Awkward._ The word came unbidden to Shikamaru's mind. Would things be weird between them today? _No,_ Shikamaru decided. He wouldn't allow it.

Shikamaru eyed the shift commander taking his position at the front of the room.

"Sorry I'm late", the Nara spoke in a voice meant only for the Hyuuga to hear.

"You so owe me, Nara", was the Hyuuga's response.

Shikamaru smirked. Everything was fine.

* * *

The shift meeting was routine, no surprises. When it was over, the duo moved to their respective desks in the bullpen. Neji worked quickly, assembling the day's agenda for the duo. Shikamaru sat hunched over the file he'd been poring over the past 24 hours.

"Haven't cracked it yet?" a voice above the Nara's head asked. He looked up to find a bespectacled, gray-haired man in a polo shirt and chinos standing next to his desk. "You must be losing your touch."

"In your dreams, Yakushi." The Nara went back to studying the notes in the file. Kabuto Yakushi moved to the chair next to Shikamaru's desk and sat down with a sigh.

"More like my nightmares. Without guys like you we forensics weenies would spend the day playing solitaire and surfing porn."

"Which part of that was the nightmare part?" Shikamaru asked without looking up, and Kabuto laughed.

"I suppose it depends on who you ask, but probably the part where my tax dollars are paying for that shit." Shikamaru looked at the Yakushi again, a bored expression on his face.

"Okay, okay, this isn't a social call." Kabuto's eyes met Shikamaru's. "So, Nara, that little scene at muster this morning—what was that about? One minute everything's cool and the next, you're standing toe-to-toe with Inuzuka." _Here we go again,_ Shikamaru thought to himself, though his expression didn't change.

"Why don't you ask Inuzuka?" Shikamaru asked him.

"Because Inuzuka's full of hot air." Kabuto leaned in closer to the Nara. "Was he really making a pass at Hyuuga?"

Kabuto knew he wouldn't get a straight answer from the Inuzuka. He also knew that Shikamaru was better than most cops at reading people. Kabuto, as did many of their colleagues, suspected Kiba Inuzuka of riding the fence, a topic that was popular only because the idiot Inuzuka had vehemently denied it more than once. If it were true, the Nara would have already figured it out. Not to mention the fact that no one was sure about Neji Hyuuga's sexual orientation (and more than a few were interested). If anyone had a bead on that, the Hyuuga's partner did; another reason the Yakushi had sought him out.

Unable to resist, Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Are you kidding? Not even Inuzuka would be stupid enough to make a pass at another male officer in the middle of a room full of mostly male cops." Shikamaru neatly closed the folder he'd been reading. "Besides, it wouldn't have taken my partner more than nine seconds to dislocate about twenty bones in the guy's body."

"Is he really that good?" Kabuto's eyes were alight with what looked to the Nara to be mischief.

"See for yourself—ask him to spar sometime." The Yakushi shook his head.

"No thanks. I'm partial to my skeletal structure; I'll take your word for it." Kabuto looked over at Neji, who appeared to be reading a file. "Doesn't it blow your mind?"

"What—Hyuuga's combat skills?"

"No, Nara. _All_ of it." Kabuto found he couldn't take his eyes off Neji. "The looks, the brain, the combat skills—and from what I hear, the money." The Yakushi turned his head back to the Nara, who maintained his bored expression. "The guy's just—perfect. How can you stand it?"

"Well, if I don't he beats my ass." Kabuto laughed again.

"So he's the bouncer on this team, and you're the mastermind. I would have figured the guy would have been too busy washing his hair to learn any self defense moves." Shikamaru smirked. The Nara wasn't exactly a slouch when it came to self defense himself, but it wasn't what he was known for. Besides, with Neji as his partner, it hardly mattered. The Hyuuga's combat skills far exceeded his, and from what he could tell, those of most of their colleagues. The Nara was fine with their dynamic just as it was.

"Well, I'd keep an eye on Inuzuka if I were you."

"Why's that?"

"Because sooner or later, he's going to learn the hard way that nothing could be further from the truth." Kabuto trained an intense look on the Nara.

"You _do_ think he was making a pass at him, don't you?" Shikamaru snorted, and then looked at Neji.

_"Nah._ He was just picking on the quiet kid, you know how it goes." Kabuto didn't look convinced.

"And what were _you_ doing?" Shikamaru looked at Kabuto then.

"Trying to save Inuzuka a trip to the hospital." Shikamaru pushed his chair back and got up from his desk then, case folder in hand.

"Where are you going?" Kabuto asked him, standing. Shikamaru looked at his watch.

"To brief the shift commander and get warrants."

"Don't forget to put me on the guest list, Nara." Kabuto watched with interest as the Hyuuga rose from his desk and wordlessly, noiselessly, walked over to his partner and stood behind him. The Hyuuga probably heard the entire conversation. Kabuto's curiosity about the nature of the partnership between the Nara and the Hyuuga spiked instantly.

Without meaning to, Kabuto's eyes met the Hyuuga's and Kabuto wondered to himself if someone in Neji Hyuuga's ancestry had possibly mated with a wolf. Kabuto looked away.

"I'll see what I can do", Shikamaru answered, and the duo turned and walked out of the bullpen.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I'm back already! I'm having so much fun with this fic, it's practically writing itself! Please provide feedback, I do appreciate it so. What do you think of Kabuto being a good guy? I can't remember reading a fic where he was good, so I decided to write him into this one that way. I hope you're enjoying this, because it only gets better from here! Stay tuned!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I have fanart!! **Shinidanie** made this: community./shikanejishika/45962.html

Many thanks to those who reviewed.

* * *

By the end of the work day, Shikamaru and Neji had handled the arrest of four individuals and gotten a break in the case on the whereabouts of the main perpetrator. A dark haired, dark-eyed man by the name of Shannon with a slight build had managed to convince four different _women_ who fit the same description to pose as the same woman named Shannon in order for him to be able to move around undetected by the police, thus perpetuating his fraud. One of the women who had been arrested was the sole caretaker for her elderly mother and provided key information on the whereabouts of the man in exchange for leniency.

The case, which hadn't been assigned to the team for more than 36 hours, was nearly closed.

Anyone who had seen the duo in action would marvel at their technique. Shikamaru and Neji moved efficiently, and communicated their very own language to each other. They were similar personalities, and could anticipate each other's thoughts and actions. It was as if they were both equal parts of one very powerful being.

Kabuto had been right about one thing: each of them had carefully established roles within their partnership. It was always the celebrity-like Neji, hypnotic eyes initially hidden by dark sunglasses, who approached anyone who needed to be questioned. A seemingly unwitting Shikamaru would silently stand by until it became necessary to intervene. When things became potentially violent, as they were apt to when Shikamaru had his game face on, the disarmingly beautiful but steely-eyed Neji would step forward once more. The pair were a couple of wildcards. No one was ever prepared for them.

Shikamaru and Neji packed their things away while reviewing the details of the day in silence. It had been a long but productive work day, and it was time to leave. Neji was excited about the day's events and not ready to go home to an empty apartment. Frankly, he didn't want to leave the Nara. What was that about? Neji knew. They'd worked so well together, anticipating each other's every strategy. It was like…_great sex._ Now Neji wanted to do what would be the equivalent of 'cuddling'. As the duo entered the elevator together, Neji wondered to himself about his options. For him this was unfamiliar territory.

Neji was never the pursuer. Being a member of the Hyuuga family meant that people came to him, not the other way around. If he ever wanted something from someone, they were already offering it to him. He only had to say yes.

Shikamaru and Neji stepped out of the elevator and walked side-by-side in comfortable silence through the parking garage.

"So…", Neji began, breaking the silence, "plans tonight? Something that doesn't involve work?" Shikamaru looked over at Neji, who raised a brow. "What are plans?" Shikamaru asked.

"Very funny, Nara."

"Come on, Neji. You've worked with me for two years. Work is all I know how to do." Shikamaru looked away then. _Being close to you is what I want to do._

Neji pondered the statement for a few moments. "It shouldn't define you", he finally told the Nara.

Shikamaru looked up at Neji, who wore an expression akin to concern on his face. "It doesn't," he told him. _But I get to be with you._

"Prove it." Shikamaru's heart sped up a little in response to Neji's command, and he could _swear_ that Neji's pace had picked up, ever so slightly, as well. What was he getting at?

"How do you propose I do that?" Neji had to stop himself from biting his lip. In the most commanding voice he could muster he said, "come out with me tonight."

He did it. He asked Shikamaru to socialize with him! And he wasn't even feeling pain. Now all that was left was for Shikamaru to say yes. The Nara had never refused him anything.

Shikamaru stopped in his tracks. Out? With Neji? _Like on a date?_ Of course not. Neji wouldn't be proposing that, would he? He turned to Neji, who stood still beside him wearing his typical non-expression. It was nearly impossible to read the guy, even after all this time.

"Out?" Shikamaru repeated.

"Yes. Out." Neji replied.

Shikamaru cleared his voice in spite of himself. If they were out _together_, then _neither_ of them would be doing any work. Shikamaru might not even get his nightly phone call! But he would be _with_ Neji. They _wouldn't _be working. Shikamaru would have Neji's time and attention tonight rather than having to settle for his phone call. _Neji's phone call and work, or the real thing? _There really was no contest.

So why on earth was Shikamaru hesitating?

"Where, uh…where did you have in mind?" Shikamaru wished he sounded less affected. Neji picked up the anxiety in the Nara's voice, but hadn't decided yet if it was a bad thing or not.

"I'm not sure. Where _do_ men of our mettle go after the workday ends?" Shikamaru's eyebrows moved into his hairline.

"You're asking _me?_ I spend all my time in two places—at my desk at work and at my desk at home. You know that."

"Yes, but you know people. You're friends with Detective Akimichi, and the one blond detective, what is his name?"

"Uzumaki", Shikamaru supplied. "Akimichi's married to an unrepentant drama queen and has no life, and Uzumaki is just LOUD. I don't want to be where that guy is after a stressful day of what we do. I am licensed to carry a firearm, after all."

Neji could see his plan beginning to dissolve like paper to ashes. He needed to regroup. Unable to resist the urge any longer, he bit his lip. The gesture was not lost on the Nara, whose own expression changed in response.

Shikamaru didn't _want_ to contemplate the number of plausible ways this evening could go wrong, but he couldn't stop himself. Neji was a tall, excessively attractive man, one whom the Nara was hopelessly secretly attracted to, and they would be out together in public in a non-professional capacity. Frankly, it was an explosion waiting to go off. He got it in his head to put the kibosh on the whole idea but the words died in his throat at the sight of Neji biting his lip. _Oh, Gods,_ Shikamaru thought_. I can't tell him no._

"Listen," Shikamaru said, the words sort of finding their way out of his mouth without any legitimate direction from Shikamaru's brain, "there's this restaurant I've been meaning to try. I visited there once during an investigation. It seemed pretty nice. It's the kind of place that requires a reservation, though I don't think that will be an issue for us. How does that sound?"

_How does that sound? That sounds great!_ Neji was pillow-humping happy¹ at hearing this. It was all he could do not to grab the Nara and hug him tightly. The duo would be out on the town, after hours, together and not working. His plan was turning out the way he'd wanted.

"An early dinner out sounds like a fine idea. We should celebrate our efforts today. You might even manage to get a decent night's sleep afterward." Neji's voice gave away nothing.

"Yeah, well, don't hold your breath on that one", Shikamaru responded, and pushed the button on his key fob to unlock the doors on his Lexus LS Hybrid as the pair approached.

"We can take my car", Shikamaru suggested, and Neji nodded once in agreement. He got into the car and buckled his seat belt. As Shikamaru started the car and maneuvered it out of the parking space, Neji contemplated it quietly. Shikamaru's car seemed so out of character for Shikamaru, who lived and breathed simplicity. Why would a man who hardly spoke or slept drive a car that cost more than 100,000? That question brought Neji's uncle to mind. Hiashi Hyuuga was a very successful lawyer, one of the top in his specialization. He hardly slept either, and his car was easily three times as expensive as Shikamaru's. Not to mention the fact that both men were highly intelligent and exceptionally strategic—not unlike Neji himself. So really, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that Shikamaru drove a fancy car. Perhaps Shikamaru practiced simplicity in other areas of his life to compensate for wanting to experience this level of luxury whenever he drove his car. It was feasible, at least.

"Are you thinking about the arrests we made today?" Shikamaru asked, interrupting Neji's thoughts. Neji looked over at Shikamaru, whose eyes were obscured by his Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses. He liked the way the Nara's shades drew the eyes to the angles of his cheek and jaw. Shikamaru really was a handsome man.

"No", Neji answered honestly, "I was actually thinking about your car. It's…nice. I would have figured you for the more spartan type of vehicle, like a jeep or something." Shikamaru chuckled at that comment.

"I happen to own an old Rubicon. This car is just a lease."

"Why do you lease a car valued at more than 100,000 to drive for work when you own a Rubicon?"

"Because people would expect me to drive something like the Rubicon, not something like this Lexus. Call this—" the Nara gestured his hand to indicate the vehicle they were riding in—"an element of surprise. Also, it's one of the nicest hybrid vehicles on the market, _and_ I can write off the expenses on my taxes." Neji could appreciate the logic.

"Besides, would you let yourself fall asleep while you were driving _this_?"

Neji looked out of the windshield of the smoothly moving vehicle. _Touché_, he thought to himself.

The restaurant parking lot was jammed with cars as expensive as Shikamaru's or more. The Nara parked along the outermost edge, making certain there were two spaces between his Lexus and the car parked on either side of it, and he backed it into the space. The Hyuuga marveled at the Nara's skill at backing into the space—he'd parked the car dead center of the space the first time, with hardly a look backward. Neji imagined Shikamaru could probably drive a car backward with precision for a far distance if a situation required it.

They walked side-by-side in amicable silence, both wearing sunglasses so no one could see their eyes. They reached the door of the restaurant at the same time; Neji opened the door to allow Shikamaru inside, and then followed closely on his heel. Neji always 'covered' Shikamaru—he was always at his back when they were working; it had become instinct to protect the shorter man in that fashion.

A young man nearly equal to Neji in height with a conservative haircut watched the pair with wide eyes as they approached the podium. Shikamaru reached into his back pocket and pulled out his leather badge holder.

"Good evening", Shikamaru began, his badge on display for the young man's eyes, "We're looking for Fredrick."

"Yes sir. Just a moment." The young man took one more look at the pair before picking up the phone on the podium. "There are two cops here looking for Fredrick", he spoke into the phone. An anxious voice could be heard on the other end of the line. The duo said nothing. Shikamaru replaced his badge holder. The Hyuuga hadn't moved. The young man hung up the phone and cleared his throat.

"Fredrick will be right out." The young man searched the faces of the two policemen again. They were really good-looking, but not what he expected. The shorter policeman wore a small hoop earring in each ear and had his black hair pulled up into a spiky ponytail at the top of his head. The taller policeman had smooth, dark, shiny hair that went well past his shoulders. The young man found himself wishing they would remove their sunglasses so that he could see their eyes, and then wondered how he'd react to what he saw if they did.

The duo had not gone unnoticed. People slowed their stroll both going out of and coming into the restaurant to get a better look at the two men. The level of murmuring was increasing in the room.

Shikamaru could feel Neji's presence at his back. It wasn't anything new, but that didn't mitigate the Nara's anxiety. They were out at a restaurant together about to enjoy a meal and _not_ talk about work. What else would they talk about? The two of them had their work, and little else. This wasn't like the old days when he dated the girls. Shikamaru had a life back then. They all had classes and other interests; night lives even. And they had _sex_. It was what they thought about, dreamt about, and did. Very often, in fact.

Now all that had fallen away. Shikamaru had discovered what he was best at. He could crack nearly any code, solve nearly any puzzle. He could anticipate human behavior before a human was even aware it was an option. In truth, the Nara supposed he had the girls to thank for that—in part, at least. Together they taught him more about human behavior than he'd learned from anyone who'd ever crossed his path.

Shikamaru's memories of their time together were always bittersweet.

The Nara didn't want his partnership with Neji to go the way his relationship had. He wanted the Hyuuga, and he needed Hyuuga. Shikamaru needed some aspect of what they had to thrive, to appease his own wounded pride if nothing else.

"Gentlemen", an eager voice proclaimed, shaking Shikamaru from his thoughts, "welcome." A short balding man with a mustache and wearing a suit extended his hand to the Nara, who took it firmly shook it vigorously. Shikamaru hadn't even noticed the man approaching.

"Fredrick, good evening. I'm Shikamaru Nara, and this is my partner, Neji Hyuuga." At this point, both gentlemen, as if on cue, reached for their sunglasses to remove them.

It was as if time were standing still. People stopped what they were doing to watch. The young host stood silently, mesmerized by the sight. Even Fredrick was momentarily struck by what was revealed. Hard, dark eyes peered from a handsome tanned face while eyes like lavender cotton were revealed on a flawless pale face of delicate features. It was a stunning vision.

Fredrick gulped. "Will you be dining in this evening, gentlemen?" _Please say yes_, he thought to himself. Policemen were always welcome at the restaurant and besides, these men gave the place one heck of a face-lift.

"Yes", was Shikamaru's response.

"Then please, step this way." Fredrick made his way to a table especially designated for his drop-in guests, the two men following. He had chosen one positioned to provide other diners with a clear view of the officers. Fredrick wanted people to remember that they saw them at _this_ restaurant.

* * *

**A/N**: (1) That was my reverent nod to fellow ShikaNejiShika fanfic writers **Prpl Grl** and **sonotgoingthere,** who put Neji humping a pillow on the map. Check it out for yourself:

**Out in the Cold:** naruto./story.php?no600095613&chapter1

**Obsessions**: naruto./story.php?no600096626

So…the boys have moved up to _dating_, as it were. Want to know how it all turns out? Stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Many thanks to those who reviewed.

* * *

Anyone watching the two of them strut through the dining room would swear two things: one, that they owned the place. Shikamaru and Neji were all power and confidence, the kind that came with knowing something important that no one else had a clue about.

And two, that it was a dream. Shikamaru was all silent male intensity, a tanned well-defined physique in a white button-down shirt and dark trousers belted around a trim waist. His hair was pulled up and away from a smooth neck adorned with his kanji necklace. Neji was an even more overwhelming vision--tall and pale, his long, smooth dark hair bound near its end at the small of his back. He wore a white button-down shirt with gray trousers and a matching vest. His sleeves were rolled back from his wrists and a simple but expensive timepiece adorned his left wrist. Together they were beautiful, breathtakingly so; each exuded his own power, intensity and a potent, profound sexuality that was simply impossible to ignore.

Impossible indeed. It was an alter-conscious effort to assess their surroundings at they were seated at their table, and the fact that most of the patrons in the room were watching them and talking about them quickly became obvious. In fact, no one in the room seemed to understand the meaning of the word coy: not the raven-haired man sitting at a booth with a group of people and winking; not the lone blond man sitting at the bar staring at the pair while rubbing circles into his thigh with one hand; and not the older, apparently well-to-do redheaded woman sitting at a nearby table who was currently licking her lips and batting her eyes at them while rubbing her fingers across her obviously fake décolletage. _Haven't these people any sense of decorum?_ Neji and Shikamaru were being totally eye-fucked.

No sooner had they been seated and exchanged glances that their host withdrew, and a server approached their table. She was a lovely, slender young woman, with blond hair pulled back neatly into a bun at the nape of her neck, lush lips and big, round brown eyes framed with impossibly long lashes. Her uniform was nearly identical to Shikamaru's outfit, a detail that was not lost on either of the three of them.

"Good evening, gentlemen", she began in a happy voice, "I'm Candace, and I'll be taking care of you this evening." She smiled so hard she thought her face might crack. This wasn't Candace's station! The server to whom this section was assigned lost a bet that was made the second the stunning duo entered the restaurant together—to Candace, who now had the honor of being the most envied server within a mile.

Candace looked at Shikamaru. "Can I start you off with something to drink?" She was momentarily struck by the intensity she saw in Shikamaru's own equally brown eyes. _My goodness,_ she thought to herself.

Shikamaru didn't respond. He stilled at the sudden, gentle touch of Neji's hand on his arm, a gesture that was not lost on the server. Shikamaru turned to Neji then, whom Shikamaru decided was staring at him as intently as anyone else in the room at that moment. The thought inspired a shudder Shikamaru had to fight down.

"May I?" Neji asked, and Shikamaru decided that not only was he not sure what the question meant, but that the answer was a vehement yes regardless.

"Be my guest", was Shikamaru's calm response. Neji pulled his hand away slowly…Shikamaru silently protested the loss of contact. Then Neji turned his pale eyes on their server.

"Have you any junmai-shu¹?" Neji asked in that potently proper, masculine voice of his. Candace didn't hear him. She was all at once lost in Neji's eyes. _What an unbelievably beautiful man!_ Candace was a looker and knew it, and knew she could _not_ compare to the man who was now looking at her. She was certain she'd never seen eyes like that on a human before, and that face…he had the face of an angel, all soft eyes and sharp nose and delicate mouth. Candace imagined seeing those eyes glazed with passion, and kissing that mouth…remembering the way the angel had touched his companion, though, it suddenly occurred to her that maybe he held that honor, and she was all at once jealous of them both. It was ridiculous that two such beautiful men should be with each other.

"Candace, are you with us?" Shikamaru asked. Candace shifted and then blinked.

"I'm sorry?" she asked in response. Candace looked at Shikamaru, then back at Neji. She seemed confused.

"I asked if you serve junmai-shu here." Neji risked a quick glance at Shikamaru, who had his eyes trained on their server.

"We serve everything listed on our beverage menu, sir." Her attempt to camouflage her sudden annoyance was quite obvious to both men.

"We haven't received a beverage menu, Candace", was Shikamaru's slow response. She blinked again. _What is he talking about?_ Candace darted her eyes across the spots on the table where the menus should have been placed and noted their absence. She then looked at her hands…and realized she'd spent the last minute standing at their table hugging their menus to her chest. Candace had forgotten to give them their menus! She blushed furiously, unwrapping her arms from the menus and handing them to the duo at the table. Candace couldn't make eye contact now, not after that. She simply stood there, staring at the floor around her feet, and silently praying it would open up and take her down.

"Candace, we need a moment to review the menus." Shikamaru's tone, while polite, was resolute. He was also giving her the out he knew she desperately wanted.

"Of course. I'll come back in a few minutes to take your order." Candace turned on her heel and took off before the resulting 'thank you' could reach her ears.

Neji opened his menu, absently aware that it was still warm from Candace's body heat, scanning its contents. He was accustomed to having people react to him the way that Candace had. His particular appearance had the effect of throwing people off-kilter—it was one of the reasons he was so effective at fraud investigation and one of the things that he brought to their team.

But there was a new fact finding purchase in Neji's mind that not even he could deny: Shikamaru wielded that same power, in the same if not greater amount. Neji had always appreciated Shikamaru's powerful aura and the way he used it to gain advantage over others, but it wasn't until tonight that he realized that aura was so potently sexual in nature. Shikamaru was an attractive man, and Neji knew this. The Hyuuga had observed women respond to him in the course of their work on many occasions. But as Neji sat across from Shikamaru at their table tonight he'd noticed, perhaps for the first time, the way that kanji necklace the Nara wore was framed by his clavicle and wondered, if he put the kanji symbol between his lips and licked it would he be able to taste Shikamaru on it?

Yes, it was Shikamaru's aura, it was very sexual in nature…and Neji liked it, he decided, smirking.

_Very much._

* * *

Candace made her way past the bar, where a very amused tanned, green-eyed man with curly brown hair waited, his arms folded across his chest.

"There was blonde moment for the archives!" he declared, smiling deviously.

"Shut up, Barry!" she hissed, moving quickly past him to the kitchen. The sound of clapping, whistling and subsequent murmuring could be heard afterward.

* * *

The two gorgeous men perused their menus in as companionable a silence as possible under the circumstances. They were both very aware: aware of the attention they were receiving from the patrons in the restaurant, and individually aware of the other. Neji wanted to sit closer to the Nara rather than across from him and Shikamaru couldn't stop imagining what it would be like to have Neji's curtain of hair sliding down his naked body. Would it smell like sake? Would it tickle? Shikamaru risked a glance at Neji, who was reading the beverage list thoughtfully, and realized he was lost. Shikamaru wanted Neji. Period. And if he never had sexual relations with anything ever again, it would be worth it to bring Neji to his bed. Of course the price for that, if he ever managed to achieve it, would be his business and personal relationship with Neji, to say nothing of the risk to his career. Shikamaru was willing to risk what was good in his life for something better; he wanted it that much. He was no fool.

Neji was worth it.

The issue then became timing. Shikamaru would move, but he would move strategically. After all, strategy was his special gift.

"Stop it", commanded the sexy voice from across the table. Shikamaru blinked as Neji's eyes met his own. Shikamaru looked away. He didn't bother denying he'd been staring; Neji always knew when he was being stared at, and by whom, as though he had eyes all over his head. Thankfully, he saw nothing unusual in Shikamaru's behavior.

"I was just wondering if you knew what you wanted." Neji blinked once, slowly, processing all the hidden meaning in the question and wondering if Shikamaru could see the answer in his eyes. _Yes,_ Neji thought to himself, _I know what I want. I want to run my tongue from the nape of your neck, all the way down your naked spine to your—_

"Neji? Don't go camping on me, big guy, we still have to order." Neji blinked again and shifted his eyes once around the room to reorient himself. He noted the other patrons were still staring, and seemed to be getting restless. Shikamaru eyed him warily.

"What's going on in there?" Shikamaru asked him. The Nara could practically hear the gears spinning manically against each other in Neji's mind.

"Well," Neji responded, closing the menu, "they don't serve junmai-shu, but have the unmitigated gall to carry not only honjozo-shu² but koshu³, as if anyone would drink that abomination. Furthermore, I'm wondering if they will serve rare meat upon request."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Come on, koshu's not _that_ bad, is it?"

"Are you kidding? They may as well be serving Sapporo Black Label Beer."

"Well, _I_ am having the koshu. Today has been a day for living dangerously." Shikamaru hadn't had koshu before, but in light of his most recent epiphany was feeling adventurous.

Shikamaru noted the noise level of the restaurant increasing and didn't miss the way Neji had emerged from his daydream to discuss the menu. The Nara knew his partner well enough to know that something was on his mind that he wasn't ready to discuss—or wouldn't while sitting there at the table. Shikamaru decided it was time to break up the monotony.

"Listen, I gotta make", he told Neji, pushing his chair back and rising from his seat, "if Candace beats me back here just order my drink for me, all right?"

"Got it", was Neji's answer as Shikamaru turned and headed toward the back of the restaurant. The Nara could feel eyes on his every step, and silently wondered to himself how people managed on so little of their actual brainpower.

By the time Shikamaru was pushing open the door of the men's bathroom he was aware he was being followed. Well, someone was coming behind him, at least; but his instinct told him that person had been waiting for an opportunity to get either he or Neji apart from the other. Shikamaru braced himself.

* * *

**A/N:**

(1) junmai-shu translated means pure sake. No adding of distilled alcohol.

(2) Honjozu-shu is sake with a tad of distilled alcohol added.

(3) Koshu is aged sake with a honeyed flavor.

(4) When Shikamaru tells Neji he's "gotta make" he means he has to make water, or go number one. Whichever you prefer.

Thanks to Wikipedia for that data, for I know nothing about sake except not to drink too much of it at once. en./wiki/Sake

Candace totally drops the ball in this chapter. No offense to any blondes who happened to read this, it's all in fun.

The plot thickens...


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: The rating begins to go up this chapter, folks!

**Warning**: solo spankage and pandering.

* * *

No sooner had Shikamaru walked out of sight than a male server appeared at the table with a drink in his hand. He placed it on the table in front of Neji, who looked up at him, perplexed.

"I didn't order this." The young server blinked. _Wow_, he thought to himself_. No wonder Candace blew it. This guy is unreal. _"Compliments of the lady in the blue dress, sir."

Neji was about to tell the young man to take it away when he felt a draft on his other shoulder. He looked over to find the woman standing next to him. Neji was now flanked by the woman on his left and the server on his right.

"Thank you Tyler…that will be all", the redhead commanded. Tyler, having heard his cue, turned and withdrew. The woman made herself comfortable in the seat across from Neji—Shikamaru's seat--and smiled the most devilish smile at him.

_Gods on a ship,_ the stoic Hyuuga thought. _Here we go_.

* * *

The Nara walked into the bathroom and positioned himself in front of a urinal. He was working his way out of his pants when his pursuer appeared, trying to act nonchalant. Shikamaru wished he wasn't so skilled at reading people's behavior.

They were the only two men in the bathroom. The man positioned himself at the urinal to Shikamaru's right and cleared his throat. He made elaborate work of undoing his pants while trying to steal glances at the hand Shikamaru was using to hold his penis. Shikamaru rolled his eyes but said nothing and finished his task.

The Nara was two seconds away from tucking himself back into his pants when he found the man slowly stroking himself while staring at Shikamaru's penis. _Why me?_ He thought, and met the man's eyes.

"Something wrong, friend?" Shikamaru asked while tucking himself into his pants. The handsome blond, green-eyed man smiled.

"I'm Derek", the man responded. _I can see how that could be a problem,_ Shikamaru thought as he zipped his trousers.

"Congratulations", he told the man aloud.

* * *

"I'm Maura", the woman stated, holding out her hand. Neji took it, kissing it gently. "Madam", he replied.

"Oooooh," Maura responded, bringing her hand back to fold them together in front of her on the table. "I knew you were well-bred. I can smell breeding." Maura's eyes twinkled. "Please tell me your name."

It was all Neji could do not to tell her to get out of Shikamaru's seat. The woman was a bother. "Neji Hyuuga."

"Hyuuga, huh? I'll have to google that name, see what I come up with." She winked at Neji, whose expression didn't change. "Neji Hyuuga, I'll get right to the point." Maura leaned in, blinking slowly. "Are you and your boyfriend willing to do anything on video?"

* * *

"You've got a lot going for you," the man stated, undaunted. "You've got a nice package. A _very_ nice package." Shikamaru made his way toward the sink. The man stood his ground, still stroking his penis, and even licked his lips, though the Nara didn't see it.

"Your companion—is he your lover?" Shikamaru pondered the question as he pumped soap into his hands_. Not yet,_ he thought to himself, but said nothing.

"It's all right if you're not talking; I know the two of you are close. The men in the building across the street are having a hard thrill, with all that sexual tension the two of you are giving off." Shikamaru's movements slowed ever so slightly before they picked up speed again. Either this schmuck was fishing, or they were really that obvious. If they _were_ really that obvious, then Neji might already know how Shikamaru felt. That was something the Nara was not ready to contemplate.

* * *

"Madam", Neji began, but the woman cut him off.

"Maura, please."

"Maura", Neji continued, "I'm afraid you've made a mistake. My companion—"

"Is this your way of telling me you want money? Honey, you're speaking my language, because money I've got lots of. How much?"

Neji blinked. _Give me a break._ "Maura, --"

"You may as well know, I'm not taking no for an answer. In case it's escaped your notice, you're sitting in a room full of people who would like nothing better than to fuck you _and_ your Dom unconscious right now. You're the prize, Neji Hyuuga, and I intend to be the one who gets it. So name your price."

_My Dom?_ Neji wasn't born yesterday. He was a Hyuuga, and he'd spent his life fielding advances like this from both women and men. One thing he did understand well about people was that if they wanted something, there was no limit to what they were willing to do to get it. Yes, the pushier ones could be surprisingly _resourceful_. It was one of the reasons he kept up with his taijutsu, remained on civil terms with his uncle Hiashi, and selected a career that authorized him to carry a loaded firearm.

Unfortunately, his 9MM was locked in the trunk of Shikamaru's car.

* * *

"You're all power", the man continued. "It vibrates off you in waves; it's affecting every one in the restaurant. It's incredibly sexy."

Shikamaru took one more look at the blond. His member was as hard as a rock and his hand had picked up speed. _Gods,_ Shikamaru thought, _he's really going to jack himself off in front of me in this restaurant bathroom. Is _nothing_ sacred?_

"Don't go, _please_…I'm so close. Just let me look at you." Shikamaru was feeling some combination of shock, awe and disgust, but he wasn't sure which one of those emotions kept him rooted to the spot in front of the sink, staring into the eyes of a strange blond man who was currently bringing himself to completion.

"Your companion is very beautiful. He has such passionate eyes. They beg for you." The last statement hit Shikamaru with the force of a punch to the chest. To his shock, he even felt his cock twitch. Shikamaru had to leave _now_.

"You take such good care of him, don't you? Tell me…" the hand on that cock became frantic, "tell me, you take that big, pulsing rod of yours and make your long-haired pretty boy squeal like a slaughterhouse pig with it. Oh-oh-_OH!" _

The bathroom door was closing quietly on the Nara's heel seconds before the man came on himself.

* * *

Shikamaru made a beeline for their table, feeling a mixture of guilt and shame and utter disgust. What the fuck had just happened? In his line of work he'd seen all kinds of things, but he had to admit, this had been the first time a man had _begged_ him to watch him jack off. _Seriously, what was that guy thinking? And more to the point, why did I stay? Anyone could have come into that bathroom while that guy was riding his hand. What would I have done if someone had? What was _I_ thinking?_

Shikamaru was shaken from his thoughts as he approached his table to find the older woman sitting his seat across from Neji and the host standing next to their table, red-faced. If they hadn't had the attention of everyone in the restaurant ten minutes ago, they did at the moment. _What now?_

The Nara's confused eyes met the Hyuuga's disillusioned ones seconds before the redhead got up from the seat and extended her hand to the Nara. Shikamaru looked at her with a non-expression.

"I'm Maura. I'll be your host tonight." Shikamaru didn't take her hand, but instead jerked his thumb in the direction of the host. "I thought that was his job."

"Mrs. Turner, please!" the host interjected. "These gentlemen are _law enforcement officials!_ You can't come over here and offer them money for sex!" Fredrick was in a panic. Shikamaru was still in too much shock from the scene he'd just walked away from to even be surprised.

"Yes I can, Fredrick. Now go away, before you upset me and I have to make a phone call." Fredrick looked pleadingly at the woman, then at Neji and Shikamaru. "I'm terribly sorry, gentlemen," he offered before he walked away. Fredrick knew that nothing would happen to Mrs. Turner, because she had the money to buy her way out of her mischief; but if he made trouble for Mrs. Turner, he'd lose his job. He only hoped the two men at the table would go easy on him after this.

"Now that that's out of the way, I—oh, my", she stated, looking closely at the Nara. She leaned in and before Shikamaru realized it she was fingering his kanji pendant, her fingertips grazing the smooth skin of his chest. "What does it mean?" she asked, locking eyes with the Nara. Neji's non-expression belied his annoyance and frustration as he looked on. Maura was touching Shikamaru's necklace, leaning closely enough into him to smell his scent, and Neji didn't like it one bit. Neither did Shikamaru, who didn't appreciate the overbearing woman invading his personal space.

"Loyalty." The simple, single word spoke volumes. The woman straightened, dropping her hand.

"I see." Maura's eyes were like stone now. "Look, your sub seems to think that you can't be bought. I'm of the mind that everyone has their price. So why don't you tell me yours and we can negotiate, hm?"

_My sub?_ Shikamaru almost couldn't believe it. While he was being jacked off to in the bathroom, Neji was being solicited for sex by a redheaded grandmother with apparently too much time and money on her hands. Did the word _misdemeanor_ mean anything to anyone in here? Was it them, or had his first impression of the restaurant been _way_ off? Being out together during investigations had had its moments—even the Nara had to admit they made a formidable team--but this was _ridiculous!_

"Well, madam, I must tell you I am flattered by your offer—"

"Cut to the chase, handsome." _Ah, the chase._ Shikamaru's eyes were completely devoid of expression. He'd had enough.

"My partner won't share me, I won't share him, we don't do women and _no_, we won't do anything that winds up on video." Shikamaru looked at Neji, who pushed back his chair and stood up. "Besides, you should put your money to better use, say for reconstructive surgery."

Shikamaru and Neji walked toward the entrance to the restaurant amid the sounds of a sharp gasp, murmuring and the clinking of silverware. The Nara silently prayed they could make it to the car and drive away before anything else happened.

He prayed in vain.

"Wait!" someone shouted from behind them. Both men turned in unison. The Hyuuga recognized the man making his way toward them as the one who had been sitting at the bar when they were first seated. The flustered man spoke in a rush, shifting his gaze between the two men.

"Listen, I got a little hyper in the bathroom and I'm sorry, I get that way sometimes. _Egad_, you are beautiful! Why don't we let bygones be bygones, say at my place? You certainly seem like a top who could handle two bottoms with ease. What do you say?"

Neji blinked, and then looked at Shikamaru, whom he would have _sworn_ looked guilty. Before anyone knew what was happening, before _Neji_ knew what was happening, Neji stunned the man with a fist to his face that knocked him back on his ass. More gasping and elevated murmuring followed. Fredrick moved to the man's side, offering his assistance when Shikamaru told him, "That guy didn't wash his hands in the bathroom."

Shikamaru and Neji left the restaurant.

* * *

**A/N**: So…what's up with that restaurant? And that was an awfully emotional response from the typically icy Hyuuga, wasn't it? Not even Kiba managed to get him that riled up! Now we know what we have to do to dislodge the stick--mess with his Shikamaru-kun (or mistake Neji for an uke) and all bets are OFF, LOL.

At this point it's fairly safe to announce that this fic will likely extend beyond ten chapters. How far beyond ten, I don't know. Honestly, I thought I could wrap this thing up in ten chapters but it keeps mutating. I doubt it will exceed thirteen chapters, if that tells you anything. Additionally, there may be two sidefics coming, so if you're interested, keep an eye out for those once this fic is complete.

If you are still reading this, bless you!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Thank you for the encouraging feedback on the previous chapters.

* * *

Shikamaru made his way to the parking lot with large, quick steps, hands jammed into the pockets of his trousers. He couldn't wait to get into his car and away from the restaurant. He reviewed in his mind his list of all the plausible ways this evening could have gone wrong, but he had never factored in any of the things that _actually_ occurred. The realization both shocked and disappointed the Nara. He was usually better at anticipating the outcome of a situation, particularly those in which he was himself involved.

Neji was doing his best job of trying to keep pace with the Nara, himself preoccupied with the events in the restaurant. Damn that woman and her indecent proposal! Neji had the evening all planned out, and she went and ruined it! And the blond man—did he touch the Nara in the men's bathroom? Had he put his hands on Neji's property?! Neji didn't know, but judging by the look he saw on the Nara's face when the man propositioned them, something had damn well occurred in there. But how was Neji going to find out without giving himself away? He didn't want to scare Shikamaru away with his possessiveness, it might make things awkward for them to work together and besides, Neji had no idea about Shikamaru's sexual…proclivities.

Neji supposed he should have known after all this time, and to be fair, he had his suspicions. The thing is, Shikamaru just wasn't a sexual being, at least not on purpose. He didn't date or discuss anyone more than anyone else and Neji had never, ever heard the Nara make an off-color remark about anyone's attributes…at least not a flattering one. There may have been telltale clues in Shikamaru's apartment, but in all the time they'd been partners Neji had never been there. In fact, Shikamaru hadn't been to Neji's home either. All this time each had been content with the late evening cell phone conference. Well, Neji decided, he would be content no longer. Unless Shikamaru gave him a damn good reason against it, Neji was going to have the Nara for himself.

_Soon_.

Neji looked at Shikamaru, who was moving like a locomotive in the direction of the car. The Nara pulled his keys from his pocket, and then stopped. He rounded on Neji, who stopped too.

"Why don't you drive?" Shikamaru asked, and tossed the keys to Neji, who caught them without even looking. Neji said nothing, merely pressed the unlock button on the key fob and walked to the driver side of the Nara's car. They got inside, buckled up, and drove off.

"Where to?" Neji attempted to ask casually. Shikamaru sat in the driver's seat with his elbow on the armrest propping his head.

"Somewhere I can drink gratuitously and contemplate existentialism with my loaded 9MM."

_Whoa_. Something _did_ happen in the bathroom at that restaurant. It had to for Shikamaru to be this emotionally out of sorts! Neji was fuming underneath, but calmly responded, "I know just the place."

And off they went.

* * *

They rode in silence. Darkness was falling outside and the shadows were increasing. _Sulky_ was a good word to describe the Nara's visage at the moment. Neji bit his lip again. He needed to organize his own thoughts. The Hyuuga would be no good to the Nara tonight if he couldn't get a handle on his own emotions.

Something had occurred between Shikamaru and the good-looking blond in the bathroom at the restaurant. Then the man propositioned them both before they left.

The man was a bottom; he believed the pair to be a couple, and that Neji was the bottom in the dynamic. Neji pondered this for some moments. To be fair, Neji _had_ bottomed before. His first sexual experience with a man had been as a bottom for a much older man many years ago. Did Neji have a preference? He hadn't actually given the matter much thought. He wasn't having sex with anyone anymore, male or female, and hadn't for some time.

Neji supposed he didn't mind, particularly if he would be bottoming for Shikamaru, but…time had evolved Neji into a powerful and aggressive man. When he imagined being with the Nara (and he had, as recently as inside the restaurant) he imagined taking him, not being taken by him. How would the Nara feel about being swept off his feet? How long would Neji have to wait to find out?

Had the blond tried to offer himself to the Nara in the bathroom? Had he tried to touch Shikamaru? Perhaps it wasn't something the blond did, but something the Nara did in reaction. The blond had apologized for his behavior. Had Shikamaru lost his cool? If the Nara was straight, then anything that happened in the bathroom between the two men was likely to make him uncomfortable. Unless…

Whatever happened was something that Shikamaru hadn't been emotionally prepared for. Shikamaru, who never got worked up over anything.

Realization dawned on Neji. _So that's what it was._

Neji glanced over at the Nara, who hadn't moved from the position he'd been in since they had first gotten into the car. Neji would take the man to his home and get him to confess. Then he would help him sort through his feelings.

And eventually, he would claim the Nara for himself.

* * *

The sensation of the car maneuvering a hard curve caused Shikamaru to raise his head. He had no idea where Neji was taking them. He wasn't going to ask.

Shikamaru recognized the neighborhood, which was to say he'd used the GPS in his vehicle to get out of it when he'd taken a couple of wrong turns once. The Nara knew that if you weren't stinking filthy rich it wasn't in your best interest to get 'lost' around here. The cops in this part of town were complete cynics.

Neji pulled up to the gate of a long, four-story building that seemed to have more security surrounding it than Fort Knox. He let the window down on his side.

"Good evening, Mr. Hyuuga", a security guard greeted. Behind that one, another one standing inside a booth released the gate that would permit Neji to park the vehicle inside the garage.

"Good evening, Mango¹." Neji drove through and pulled the car into one of a row of garages. The garage door came down behind them securely. The inside of the garage was cold, in pristine condition and very well-lit.

Neji eyed his partner, who seemed to be assessing his surroundings. "You ready?" he asked in a calm voice. Shikamaru nodded.

They got out of the car. Neji led them to a door, which he opened and the Nara went through. Neji followed, then closed and locked the door from the other side by punching a specific code into a keypad. No one who had no business near the Nara's Lexus could get access to it; it was now locked into the garage from both sides.

The inside of the building was lit well, but softly. Plush carpeting and lush potted foliage lined the hallways. The soothing sounds of classical music could be heard through speakers installed in the ceiling.

The Hyuuga led them down a couple of hallways to an elevator. He pressed the button, and then waited. The ding signaling the arrival of the elevator sounded.

"What no lift attendant?" Shikamaru asked as the elevator doors opened. He just couldn't resist. Both men stepped inside. The button for the fourth floor lit up beneath the pressure of Neji's finger.

"We had him assassinated", Neji responded as the doors closed. "He knew too much."

_Was that humor?_ Shikamaru thought to himself as they rode the elevator in silence. Shikamaru wasn't actually sure. Given the nature of their surroundings there was at least a 50/50 chance the Hyuuga wasn't kidding. He didn't want to contemplate that possibility too closely.

Neji had become someone different practically overnight in Shikamaru's eyes. First that comment last night over the phone, then the invitation to go out, that odd look at the restaurant, punching the guy as they were leaving...it was a side of the man he didn't know existed, a more human side. Or perhaps he had known, and simply didn't want to acknowledge it. The Nara didn't want to ponder the Hyuuga's passionate humanity. It was almost too much to know that it was there and just out of his reach.

They arrived at the fourth floor quickly. Neji got off first, and Shikamaru followed, again assessing his surroundings. The pair walked the long hallway until they reached the door numbered 404.

Neji used a key to open the door. An alarm went off. The Hyuuga walked toward a box installed on the wall to the left and punched in a numeric code. The alarm stopped, and the lights came up. Shikamaru removed his shoes and socks and slid his feet into one of several pair of slippers positioned by the door. He stood up then, and his eyes went wide.

They walked into a spacious room. The word symmetry came to mind as Shikamaru scanned the interior. The walls were adorned with paintings. The ceilings were high. The furniture was expensive. All of it was carefully, symmetrically positioned.

The place had a grand ballroom feel to it. All that was missing was the giant chandelier.

"The couch is very comfortable, if you are so inclined", Neji announced, interrupting the Nara's thoughts. "I'll get us something to drink."

"Bathroom?" Shikamaru asked. Neji pointed toward a hallway.

"First door on the left."

"Thanks." The Nara made his way to the bathroom, closing the door behind him with an easy click. He could hear Neji rummaging around in what he suspected was a giant, gourmet kitchen.

Shikamaru scanned the bathroom. It was a giant, spotless, chrome-and-marble creation. It had a stand-up shower that appeared as though it could hold four people comfortably. The Nara did the math. That's two couples at once. There were even two shower heads, each coming out of opposite walls. Shikamaru wondered if the bathroom he was standing in had ever been used to its full capacity.

If this was any indication, then the rumors about the Hyuuga wealth must be true. Shikamaru couldn't be certain but he didn't think it was possible to live _this_ well on what special investigators earned, no matter how good they were at what they do. Shikamaru had heard the rumors, of course, but paid them no mind. Neji didn't bring his family legacy on the job with him. He didn't expect special treatment for being a Hyuuga. He took his work very seriously. He more than held up his end.

Shikamaru approached the commode and worked himself out of his pants. As he stood, memories of the restaurant bathroom filled his thoughts. He found the blond good-looking; Shikamaru was willing to admit that to himself. He was nowhere near as good-looking as Neji, though. And the man wanted _him_. It was _the Nara_ he'd followed into the bathroom. It was him the stranger had jacked off to and then offered to bottom for. This was new for Shikamaru. No man had ever pursued him that way, even back when he dated the girls!

Shikamaru liked the attention. He would admit that to himself as well. It was rare when he received it, rarer still when he received it from a man. The Nara was…flattered.

And he wanted more attention, but he wanted it from Neji. No one else mattered.

Shikamaru finished, zipped himself up and walked over to the sink to wash his hands. The soap—in fact, the entire bathroom—smelled of vanilla and lavender. Shikamaru turned on the faucet and took a look at himself in the mirror as he lathered his hands.

Shikamaru and Neji had been partners for two years. They knew each other. They trusted each other. They respected each other. They took care of each other. But it wouldn't last forever, no matter how much either of them wanted it to. Tonight's bathroom episode was, in effect, a sign. If Shikamaru wanted Neji in his life, he had to make a stand now. He couldn't go on running from his feelings. He could no longer allow their partnership to be enough.

Firmly resolved but anxious nonetheless, Shikamaru bent over the sink and splashed the water on his face. He was a little too vigorous and the shirt he was wearing got soaked from the splashing. _Shit,_ Shikamaru thought to himself. He shut off the faucet and reached for a towel, trying to absorb what he could from his shirt with it before dabbing his face.

"Is everything all right?" came the question from the other side of the door. Shikamaru could tell the Hyuuga was calling out from the living room where they were.

"Uh, yeah, I'll be right out." Shikamaru replaced the towel. Then, while undoing two buttons on the soaked shirt to keep the wet spots from clinging to him, he took one last look at himself in the mirror.

_Strategy,_ Shikamaru thought to himself. _You can do this._

Shikamaru emerged from the hallway to find the Hyuuga sitting in the living room in a big chair next to the sofa. The sound of classical music wafted through the room. On the coffee table in front of them was a tray of sake and—

"Is that—yokan²?" Shikamaru asked, approaching the living room. The Hyuuga looked at him, smirking.

"It was all I had. If I had known you were coming, I would have picked up some dango."

It would have been an elegant scene to anyone lucky enough to see it. The Hyuuga sat in the chair. His vest had been unbuttoned completely and he was also wearing a pair of slippers. On the table in front of him was a beautiful tray with what appeared to be a very expensive sake service. Next to it was a platter of confection typically consumed with tea, not sake.

_He remembered,_ Shikamaru thought, seating himself on the couch. It was just as comfortable as Neji said it was. Suddenly he felt the fight leaving his body—all the tension and stress of the entire day was being siphoned out of him by the cushions of that big comfortable couch, the sound of the music and the sight of the awesomely beautiful man. Shikamaru rubbed his eyes.

"Make yourself comfortable, Nara. I'll pour." Shikamaru lay back on the couch, his head propped by the arm, and one leg hanging off the side. He could fall asleep just like this.

He looked at the Hyuuga then. "Hit me", he told him.

* * *

**A/N:**

(1) I happened to be eating Haagen-Dazs Mango ice cream when that sentence was added to this fic. Good stuff.

(2) Yokan, like dango, is a form of _wagashi_, or Japanese confectionery (pastry, people) typically consumed with tea. Thank Wikipedia for that as well; I only know dango because I had it in Japan. en./wiki/Wagashi

Lots of getting in touch with feelings in this chapter. Neji hazards a guess about what is ailing Shikamaru. Shikamaru has now resolved not to let any more grass grow under his undeclared feelings for the Hyuuga. What happens next? Please stay tuned and don't forget to review!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: This chapter is a bit shorter than the rest have been. Important plot development here, people. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Neji poured a cup of junmai-shu for Shikamaru, and one for himself. He handed the cup to the Nara. "Kanpai", he stated, and Shikamaru raised his cup before downing its contents in a single go.

"We're going to need bigger cups."

"Speak for yourself, Nara." Neji took in the vision of Shikamaru, lying across his couch in slippers, two extra buttons on his damp white shirt undone. _Gods,_ Neji thought to himself. _It's almost too much. _

_Almost._

"Shikamaru, why don't you take your hair out of that tie? I told you to make yourself comfortable." Neji desperately wanted to see Shikamaru with his hair down. He fought the urge to bite his lip again.

"If there are any more bottles of junmai-shu around here you may wind up with a naked Nara on your hands. My hair out of its tie would be the least of it." Shikamaru reached for the yokan without looking at the Hyuuga.

Good thing, too, because the man had lost the battle with his urge to bite his lip again and was presently shuddering at the Nara's last statement. _Doesn't he realize what he's doing?_

_Perhaps not,_ Neji countered in his mind. _He's presently…preoccupied._

It was time to investigate. The Hyuuga got up to retrieve an extra bottle of sake and set it gently on the tray in front of the Nara. "Okay. More sake, just as you requested. Now talk."

The Nara finished his yokan and sighed. "I can't talk right now, I'm still processing."

Neji wondered to himself how much more processing the man would require on two bottles of junmai-shu and a platter of sweets.

"Well then, listen." Neji drank his sake. "You were rather brash with the lady this evening, don't you think? It wasn't like you at all."

"She had it coming." The Nara's voice sounded tired.

"How is that?" Neji asked.

"Are you serious? Do you of all people really need to ask? The nerve of that elderly panderer to think she could even _afford_ my ass, much less yours _and_ mine."

At this declaration, Neji smirked. "Touché, Nara."

"Tonight was just _bizarre_, Neji. We were in that restaurant, what—25 minutes, give or take?! I mean, I've experienced a lot of stuff, but tonight…" Shikamaru gulped from the bottle.

Neji saw his opening, and went for it. "Like what happened in the men's bathroom?"

At that question, the Nara visibly stiffened. _Not yet,_ he thought to himself. "I'm not ready to talk about that." Shikamaru drank more sake.

"Did he touch you?" Neji pressed. He needed to know. Shikamaru looked at the Hyuuga, who sat there, waiting.

"Neji—" the Nara began.

"Did he?" Neji couldn't hide the urgency in his voice. He was past caring. He would find the man and kill him willingly if he had so much as put one finger on the Nara.

"I—no, he never laid a hand on me."

_Now we're getting somewhere,_ Neji thought to himself. "Is that why you're upset? Did you _want_ him to touch you?"

"No!" Shikamaru got up from the couch, sake bottle in hand, and looked at Neji. _Beautiful Neji,_ he thought to himself, and his expression softened. _Gods avail me, I am lost_.

"No one touched anyone", the Nara managed in a calm, quiet voice. Neji pondered this for a moment. No one touched anyone--else…?

The Nara looked so vulnerable standing there, so beautiful.

"Tell me what happened, Nara." It was the drop-dead sexy voice from the phone that Shikamaru couldn't resist. He turned away from Neji in an attempt to hide his reaction. The Hyuuga did not move from his spot, but simply waited, taking in the way Shikamaru's shoulders tapered to his trim waist and the swell of round buttocks.

"He—the blond, he followed me into the bathroom and started jacking off. I got weirded out and was going to leave, but he begged me not to. S-so I stayed."

Neji's eyes grew wide. "He _begged_ you?"

"Yeah, he said he just wanted to look at me."

_I can't say I blame him_, Neji thought to himself. "And did you look at _him_, Shikamaru?"

The Nara didn't answer, but turned the bottle of sake up to his lips and emptied it, rubbing the excess from his mouth with the back of his hand and setting the empty bottle on a nearby table.

"Answer me." It was the voice again.

Shikamaru closed his eyes. _Gods, have mercy. _"Yes."

Neji furrowed his brows and bit his lip again. He couldn't believe he missed that scene! "How did it make you feel?" he asked calmly.

"How do you _think?!" _Shikamaru responded.

But the Hyuuga wasn't deterred. "I want to hear you tell me Nara. And don't mince words, this isn't the time and you know I'll see right through it."

Shikamaru stiffened again. _He's right, damn him. If I lie about this, he'll know the instant the words slip from my mouth, especially now. _Shikamaru sighed. "I-I wasn't going to stay. I couldn't resist the pleading I heard in his voice, and then…"

"Go on."

_He talked dirty to me—about you. It turned me on. A lot. _"I left when I realized I-I liked watching him. I felt weird, dirty. Ashamed." _I cheated on you._

Neji got up from his spot on the other couch and walked over to Shikamaru. Using a hand on the Nara's shoulder, he turned him so that they faced each other. Shikamaru wouldn't look Neji in the eye, so Neji gently tilted his face to meet his.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Shikamaru."

At that the Nara snorted, trying to turn away again, but Neji would not allow him to.

"Why does your sexuality make you so uncomfortable? What are you afraid of, Nara?"

Shikamaru crossed his arms in front of his chest. He wasn't ready to have this conversation with Neji, not now. He couldn't see a way to avoid it, though. Shikamaru sighed. "Neji, if I were gay, would you still want to be my partner?"

Neji's gaze did not falter even a fraction. For a few moments, neither man spoke a word. _Is he joking? _"If I were gay, would you still want to be mine?" Neji countered. "I believe that is the appropriate question, all things considered."

Shikamaru's eyes grew wide. "What are you trying to say, Hyuuga?"

* * *

**A/N:** Cliffhanger—TA-DA! I know, why did I do it, right? Well, I wanted to do something that might make you come back for more. The next chapter is ready, and on its way. Please stay tuned and be sure to review!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: You're going to be pissed after reading this. There's more buildup but we won't get to the actual pillow talk for some time. If you're still with me, thank you.

* * *

_Gods, this one needs a schematic!_ Neji thought to himself. Without saying a word, Neji unbuckled the belt of Shikamaru's trousers. A stunned and tipsy Nara said nothing until he realized the Hyuuga wasn't planning to stop there. When the button on Shikamaru's trousers was released, the Nara's hands flew to Neji's wrists to stop him.

"Neji, what are you doing?!" The Nara's heart was thumping so loud he could hardly hear anything else.

"Making my point," was Neji's calm response.

Shikamaru shoved Neji's hands away roughly, but Neji didn't back off. "Try making your point with your _own_ pants, Hyuuga."

"Fine", Neji quickly countered, grabbing the Nara's hand at the wrist to place it over the Hyuuga's erection. The sensation of hardened flesh beneath clothing shocked the Nara. He tried to pull his hand away, but Neji roughly rubbed it over his erection before releasing it.

Shikamaru simply stared at Neji, surprise evident on his face. "What the _fuck_, Neji?"

"_Gods_, Shikamaru, do I have to draw you a diagram? That," Neji told him, placing his hand on the Nara's own clothed erection, "was about _this_." Neji squeezed the burgeoning thing for measure. Shikamaru had been outed, and was now embarrassed beyond description.

"_Shit_", Shikamaru hissed.

Neji leaned into Shikamaru's body, rubbing and squeezing that erection. He could smell the Nara's scent mixed with the scent of junmai-shu and it was making Neji harder by the second. Shikamaru clenched his fists, resisting the urge to cover his face with his hands.

"You liked it", Neji stated in that voice, modified to become an even sexier thing.

Shikamaru couldn't look Neji in the eye, and couldn't respond. At the moment he could hardly form a coherent thought. They were alone together in Neji's home, half in the bag and hard as stone, with Neji using one of those deadly hands of his to grope him without mercy. It was too much.

"Huh?" Shikamaru grunted, letting his eyes close.

"That man chose _you_, Shikamaru. He followed you, and then he offered himself to you shamelessly. He wanted you so badly he jerked himself off right in front of you in the men's restroom of a three-star restaurant." Shikamaru could see the scene all over again in his mind. Neji, his sexy voice and that hand--that very _skilled_ hand--were breaking the Nara down. He had nowhere to hide.

"You liked him, didn't you?" Neji asked.

Upon hearing this, the Nara's eyes flew open. "No!" Even though the walls of guilt and shame and, Gods avail him, lust were quickly closing in on Shikamaru, he didn't want the Hyuuga to believe he'd chosen someone over him. Shikamaru tried to tell him, but the words wouldn't come. "Neji, I—it wasn't—I-I didn't—"

Neji rubbed him, squeezed him again, and any further attempt to explain died in the Nara's throat. "Did you watch him come?" was Neji's next gambit.

"Stop it." Shikamaru could hardly endure more of the sound of that lusty voice.

"What did it make you want to do, Nara? Did it make you want to fuck him?"

"Neji, stop!"

Neji was advancing on the Nara with a determined look etched into his porcelain countenance. Shikamaru was not aware he was moving backward until his back hit the wall and Neji trapped him there, one arm braced against the wall on one side of the Nara's head, the other with its hand taking indecent liberties with the Nara's clothed erection, his body leaning in so close they were sharing breaths. Shikamaru was having trouble breathing. Neji's pale eyes bore into his own.

"I won't stop", Neji told him in that sexy voice. "I won't stop until you own up to liking men, and then…" In an even more daring move, Neji bent and licked the shell of the Nara's ear, "I won't stop until I've made you mine."

Shikamaru's eyes went wide and the breath left his lungs_. Did you just say you want me? Did you just say—_

Neji's next move was the undoing of them both. He gave in to his compulsion to taste the Nara, gently pressing his lips into his. Eyes fluttered shut. Neji licked the seam of Shikamaru's lips, tasting while at the same time asking permission. Shikamaru's answer was to open his lips and draw that tongue inside with his own. The sake tasted _so good_ this way! Galvanized by Shikamaru's concession, Neji reached for the zipper on the Nara's trousers, tugging it down to reveal Shikamaru's straining boxers, and slipped his hand into their opening.

The sudden flesh-to-flesh contact between the Nara's large aching erection and Neji's hand caused Shikamaru to moan into Neji's mouth. The Hyuuga chuckled, breaking the kiss.

"Don't be shy, Nara." Neji grabbed the Nara's hand and placed it on the waistband of his trousers. "Touch mine too."

Shikamaru's moves were tentative. He was with Neji. _His_ Neji. And they were making out. The Nara could hardly believe Neji wanted him the way he wanted Neji, but it was happening. Suddenly Shikamaru wanted on his knees in front of the Hyuuga with his mouth around Neji's cock. He didn't really understand why he wanted it that way and not the other way around, but he wasn't going to talk himself out of it.

Shikamaru's moves became more deliberate. In the meantime the Hyuuga was busy feasting on the Nara's neck and frantically working his hand around a cock so big and hard its twitching threatened to rip the boxers confining it. "Gods, Nara, you're a beast."

The next thing Shikamaru felt was his hair being freed from its tie and deft fingers rummaging through his thick, wavy locks. He leaned back into the hand massaging his scalp.

"You like this", Neji breathed.

Shikamaru said nothing. Neji's hands were sending him into subspace. Neji tugged a bit on the Nara's hair. Shikamaru's hands on the Hyuuga's trousers stilled.

"Answer me, Shikamaru Nara. You like this, don't you?"

Shikamaru gulped between pants. "Fucking hell do you think, Hyuuga?"

Neji liked that response. He wanted to unleash all of Shikamaru's passion. Neji smiled and crushed his lips to the Nara's. Gone was the gentleness of their first kiss. Shikamaru could taste blood.

Shikamaru broke the kiss and pulled his hands away from the Hyuuga's pants, reached for the hands in his hair and pants and freed himself from them. He couldn't step back from Neji and Neji wouldn't give him any room. He stared at Neji, panting, his body doused in sweat that smelled of sake, his hair a wild halo around his head and shoulders. His cock was angry in his pants. The time for teasing was over.

"If you're done trying to jack me off, we should go to bed."

Neji smirked. "All in good time. I want answers first." Neji began unbuttoning the rest of the buttons on Shikamaru's still damp shirt. "Why were you acting so homophobic before?"

The Nara blinked. Neji wanted coherent responses _now?_ His cock was doing a gymnastic floor routine in his pants, no way! He searched his mind. "I-I'm not a homophobe, all right? I was just afraid you would reject our partnership."

"After all this time? For what? Watching a guy beat off to you in a public bathroom? Do you think I'm a homophobe?"

"Neji," Shikamaru responded, "No. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. I didn't know how to respond."

"Because you liked it", was the Hyuuga's assessment.

The Nara sighed. Neji dragged the unbuttoned shirt free of Shikamaru's trousers. Shikamaru lifted his arms to allow Neji to pull them free of the sleeves. Neji then tossed the shirt to the side. "Yes."

"Because you liked him", Neji continued. He ran his hands along the ridges and planes of Shikamaru's chest and abs, paying particular attention to those dark, pebbled nipples. The Nara was so warm, and smelled so good. It was driving Neji crazy.

"No, Neji."

The Hyuuga took a nipple and pinched it between his fingertips. The Nara hissed. "You're lying to me, Nara." Another pinch, another hiss. "You stood in that bathroom with that man and watched him stroke himself, and you're trying to tell me that you didn't find him attractive? How does that work, Nara? Tell me."

"I-I, yes, I thought he was good-looking but I didn't want him, not like you—_aaaah_—think", the Nara bit out. Neji's hands on his body were making thinking nearly impossible. When Neji's fingers began ghosting along Shikamaru's sides, he had to pull them away. He could barely stand it.

"Neji," the Nara began, taking the fingers of one hand between his lips and licking them, "that man was a complete stranger to me, and do you know what he did? He risked rejection, public humiliation, and yes, jail time to reveal his feelings for me." Shikamaru ran the tip of his tongue along Neji's longest finger and into the palm of his hand, and Neji gasped. "Now, as trifling as it all was, he showed me, in that act, just how much of a coward I'd been." Now it was Neji's turn to be speechless, as the Nara pushed his tongue into the palm of the Hyuuga's hand. Shikamaru could taste his own essence on Neji's skin.

"I've been running from myself. My feelings were not something I wanted to deal with. My sexuality was troublesome. But tonight I came face to face with all of it. And all I could think about is what that might mean to our partnership." Shikamaru sighed. "I just don't want to lose you."

"Why did you think I wouldn't understand?" Neji asked the Nara.

"I didn't think you would want this. I didn't know you wanted us." Shikamaru wound his arms around the Hyuuga's trim waist, his fingers toying with the bind at the end of Neji's long hair. He still couldn't believe they were here, together like this.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't either until the blond made that offer to us as we were leaving." Neji ran his tongue along the Nara's neck to his naked shoulder, tasting his salty skin.

Shikamaru smirked. "You know, that was an unusual reaction from you. I figured you punched the guy because he thought you were a bottom."

Neji shrugged. "I did."

The Nara chuckled. "Neji—"

Neji lifted his head then. "I also did it because I thought you'd find him less tempting if he weren't so pretty."

Shikamaru smirked. That _had_ to be a joke. "I would never have chosen him over you. Not in a million years. I don't think anyone would have."

"He got to claim your virtue. I was jealous."

If it were possible the Nara's heartbeat sped up more. _Neji? Jealous?_ Twenty-four hours ago, Shikamaru would never have conceived of Neji feeling jealousy over _anything_. Hearing him utter those words, it was too much.

"You were right about one thing, Nara." The Hyuuga teased the earring in the Nara's ear with his tongue. "When you told that woman I wouldn't share you…I'm very protective of what is mine, you see." Neji's lips ghosted along Shikamaru's in an almost-kiss.

"I'm yours, am I?" Shikamaru asked in the huskiest voice he'd ever heard himself use.

"Just as I have told you." Neji stepped back and took the Nara's hand. "And now I'm going to show you."

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, better…but we're not there yet. These guys are trying to work out two years of repressed emotion, cut them a little slack why don't you?

Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: Hot-diggity, we're into double-digit chapters now! Thank you faithful readers!

* * *

Neji led Shikamaru down the hallway past the bathroom to his bedroom. The hand he held within his own was trembling. Neji wouldn't say anything. He could relate. As badly as he wanted this, and he did, he was terrified he'd screw it up. He'd never been the pursuer before now. He'd spent an inordinate amount of his life pushing people away. Neji was totally shooting from the hip.

They entered his bedroom, and the lights came up. The Nara looked around. While the bedroom wasn't as big as the living room, it was pretty spacious in its own right. The bed was larger than California King size—much larger. It sat in a part of the bedroom where nothing touched it on either side. The bed was made of hand-carved wood, the dark wood, and its linen was camel colored. Deep purple accent pillows mixed with the camel colored pillowcases at the head of the bed. It was the liveliest thing in an otherwise luxe but austere setting.

Neji gave his guest a moment to adjust, then turned to him and kissed him briefly.

"Are you cold?" Neji asked, playing with his nipples again.

"I—no. I'm…" Shikamaru couldn't find the words. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that he was standing shirtless with his hair unbound in Neji's home—in Neji's _bedroom_—about to take their 'thing' to another level. Damn the beastly erection that had been twitching in his pants the past ten minutes. It was like a damned dowsing rod, and now it was going nuts.

"What is it? You're not having second thoughts, are you?" Was it fair of Neji to ask that question while his hand was busy rubbing the Nara's twitching erection?

"_Neji_—" There was frustration and anxiety in the way Shikamaru spoke his name.

Neji stayed the hand that had been rubbing Shikamaru's crotch and pulled it away. Shikamaru's cock twitched again and he moaned a little at the loss of warm contact. "Look at me, Shikamaru Nara." The Nara's eyes were pinned to Neji's then. Oh, how he loved to hear him say his name that way. "What do you want to say to me?" he asked in that sexy voice.

Shikamaru didn't know what he wanted to say. He only knew that the man he wanted also wanted him, and was now holding him in his arms. He wanted Neji to kiss him again. He wanted Neji's hands roaming his body again. He wanted Neji's hair loose and flowing freely around the two of them.

But he couldn't say it. He was still too thunderstruck by it all.

So he lifted his head and kissed Neji. Then, as he was kissing him, took Neji's hand and replaced it on his much happier cock. He took Neji's other hand and replaced it in his wavy hair. He moaned as the hand in his hair began to tug gently again, and pressed his bulge into the other hand. If he couldn't articulate how turned on Neji was making him, then he'd show Neji that, at that moment, they both wanted the same thing.

Nagging thoughts plagued the Nara. He'd never done this--not with a man. He certainly hadn't planned on doing it tonight. He was cognizant of the mechanics, but preparation was another matter. He wasn't ready. He wasn't—

"Neji", he finally spoke, breaking the kiss, "wait."

"I don't want to wait. I told you I wouldn't stop."

"Please Neji…I'm—I just need a minute." The Hyuuga grabbed the Nara's hand and placed it against the Hyuuga's own twitching erection.

"A minute is all you're getting." Neji placed a peck on the Nara's lips before moving away from that hand. "I'll be right back", he told the Nara.

Neji walked into a room the Nara guessed must have been the en suite bathroom. The lights came up. There was some rummaging, and then the sound of running water. Neji came out a short time later. The water was still running. Wordlessly, he took the Nara's hand and led him back inside the bathroom.

The room in which they stood was nearly the size of the bedroom, which was simply ridiculous. It was another chrome-and-marble monstrosity, only this one came equipped not only with a shower, but with a tub that could easily accommodate _three_ couples. It was from that tub that the sound of running water generated.

Neji turned to face his sexy guest.

"I believe I've covered the basics." He placed another peck on the Nara's mouth. "Come out when you're ready." Neji headed back toward the bedroom, but stopped short and looked back over his shoulder. "Don't make me wait too long." He turned and left, closing the doors behind him.

Shikamaru released a long sigh. He scanned the room. The lighting in the room was on a dimmer switch, which was good. It was currently too harsh for the Nara, who was still operating under a sake buzz.

He strolled over to the counter where Neji had set out some things. There was a fluffy white terry robe, and matching slippers (seriously?). There was a fluffy bath sheet. A washcloth. A brand-new bar of soap. _Organic_ soap. There was a hand towel. On top of the hand towel was a brand-new toothbrush and a brand-new razor. There was toothpaste. _Organic_ toothpaste (is that how he keeps his teeth so bright?). Cotton balls. Bandages (?). Shave cream. And a dou—

Shikamaru picked up the plastic bottle with the nozzle on it, still sealed in cellophane. It resembled a feminine hygiene product. _Wait a second_. It _was_ a feminine hygiene product. _Massengill_. What the fuck?!

He was probably better off not knowing.

Shikamaru set the bottle back on the counter and picked up the green box that sat next to it. _Oh, Gods. Fleet._

The Nara opened the twin pack of saline enemas. The nozzle on these things was kind of scary. But it was what he needed. In fact, all of it, on some level, was necessary to appease Shikamaru's anxiety. He had dreamt of this day more times than he wanted to admit to. He practically beat off to the fantasy every night. He wanted tonight to be…perfect. Flawless. Neji had understood the specifics of the Nara's anxiety without being told, and handed him an opportunity to make things right for himself.

Shikamaru walked over to the giant tub and shut off the water. It was time to get started. He didn't want to make Neji wait any longer than necessary.

* * *

Neji milled about the bedroom gathering things for his shower. He figured he'd take the opportunity to freshen up himself. It couldn't hurt and it would give him a chance to take the edge off his own anxiety.

Neji hoped he hadn't forgotten anything important. He wanted this night to be good for them both. He had every intention of staking his claim on the Nara.

Neji considered what this might do to their careers, perhaps for the first time since the possibility of their becoming a couple had presented itself. In truth, he wasn't worried; Neji didn't work because he needed the money. He was a public servant, _sort of_ like his Uncle Hiashi who, although he earned loads of it, didn't need to work for money either. Win, lose or draw, the Hyuugas were set for their conceivable futures--every last one of them.

But it wasn't fair to Shikamaru, who didn't have a wealthy family that Neji knew of to fall back on. If this thing went haywire, it could mean the end of his career as a special investigator. Would a man like Shikamaru Nara be content being kept? Neji couldn't be sure. But he did know one thing—once he got hold of the Nara he wouldn't let him go.

_So possessive_. He had told the Nara the he belonged to the Hyuuga. The Nara didn't seem to mind. Neji never got round to asking the Nara how long he'd been harboring feelings for him. But then Neji had to ask himself what the true nature of his own feelings for the Nara had been. He'd never needed anyone or anything the way he'd needed the Nara. He liked him, he trusted him, and he nurtured him (the Nara made it easy). But was it love? Neji didn't know. In truth, he had nothing to compare it to.

The pair was amusing. Two years of working together, and neither knew the other was harboring secret feelings. One slip of the tongue during a telephone conversation 24 hours ago had changed _everything_.

Neji took his things with him into the other bathroom and closed the door. He'd best get started. He didn't want either of them to be kept waiting.

* * *

Shikamaru blinked. He couldn't believe his good fortune! The tub with its jets was perfect. He relaxed in the warm bubbly water.

Shikamaru had first undressed, taking great care to remove his kanji necklace, and then used the enema. It was awkward being bent over in that position until he had to go number two. Thank goodness the bathroom was so spacious; he was able to do it on the floor right in front of the commode and the bidet. It was painful, as well; other than general sex play when he dated the girls and routine medical examinations, the Nara never introduced anything into his anal region. Shikamaru had to work to get the nozzle in there far enough for it to do some good.

He eventually figured out what to do with the douche. He would have to swear the Hyuuga to silence for that one.

After all of that was done, the Nara took the razor, shave cream, soap and washcloth with him into the bathtub. He had very little in terms of facial hair, so that wasn't a big issue. He elected to groom himself in other areas, areas he'd never considered grooming himself in when he dated the girls. He still remembered the arguments between the girls when one of them got slack on grooming her body hair.

The soap had a simple, masculine, woodsy scent, nothing overpowering. It lathered up very well. Shikamaru thought he could have been a commercial for soap, standing there covered in the rich suds. He used it in his hair as well. The Nara guessed this soap was available for guests. He could not recall the Hyuuga ever smelling like this.

When he got out of the tub, he felt very clean. His bum was a bit sore, but the pain was negligible. He slipped his feet into the terry slippers and padded over to the sink to brush his teeth. There he stood, naked except for the slippers on his feet, brushing his teeth, his hair a mass of wet, jet-black shoulder-length waves. While he brushed, he surveyed: Shikamaru was always fit. It came easy for him. He'd always been athletic. He eyed his physique, which was lean and toned. A few scars, but no blemishes. Great. His pecs were defined. His abdominals were defined. No gut there. He looked lower. There was that damnable dowsing rod. It had always been a 'thing' with him. For an average-sized man, he managed to wind up with longer-than-average genitalia, ostensibly a gift from his father, who was taller, leaner, and by all accounts even longer than Shikamaru. It hadn't been a problem thus far; the girls loved it. They kept him awake and moving for days sometimes because they couldn't get enough of it. He wondered if it would be a help or a hindrance in this new scenario. There were so many unknown variables.

Shikamaru's teeth were sparkling. He rinsed the brush, and then set it aside. He rinsed his mouth, then grabbed the hand towel and wiped his face. Using the bath sheet, he dried any part of him that still dripped. He liked the faint scent of the soap that came off his skin. Not overpowering at all. Very pleasant.

Shikamaru eyed his kanji necklace. Should he put it back on? He wasn't used to going without it. But tonight was different, he decided. He didn't want anything to get in the way. Besides, it was safer here, in Neji's 'throne room'.

Shikamaru donned the fluffy white robe, tying it tightly. He took a deep breath and turned toward the bathroom's double doors. Okay. He was ready.

* * *

**A/N:** We're closer. The lemon is epic; it takes up two chapters, so stay tuned and please review!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Many thanks to those who reviewed.

Someone mentioned in one review that they thought Shikamaru would be the seme in this fic because of what happened in the bathroom of the restaurant (reference Chapter 6). **Good point.** Shikamaru is an alpha male; it is logical for people to respond to him that way. By point of contrast, Neji has been consistently mistaken for the uke in this fic. I reversed their roles in their relationship to demonstrate that they were really only suited to each other. Because they work together and share an intense bond between them, they know each other in a way that no one else can.

* * *

Shikamaru walked to the bathroom's double doors and opened them, slowly, as though he were making a grand entrance. He scanned the bedroom. The lighting was dimmed. Soothing classical music could still be heard. The room smelled like his partner, but Shikamaru didn't see him. A more-at-ease Shikamaru stepped out of the bathroom to get a better look.

"Stunning." The word suddenly floated into the air and Shikamaru turned in the direction of its origin. What he saw there robbed him of his breath.

The Hyuuga stood at the entrance of the bedroom. He wore a robe identical the one Shikamaru wore. It was belted loosely and gaping, so there was an ample view of one of Neji's powerful thighs to where it met his hip. A smooth nipple on a pale, hard pec peered out of the robe above the tie around the Hyuuga's trim waist. Neji's long, thick, dark brown hair was still damp and lay against his shoulders like a heavy curtain. Neji's pale eyes focused on the Nara with undisguised appreciation.

Neji advanced into the room with the sake service on the tray in his hands. He set the tray down on the nightstand next to the bed, and then poured two cups of sake. Shikamaru watched silently as Neji approached him with the cups in his hands.

The Hyuuga offered a cup to the Nara, who accepted. Shikamaru found he couldn't take his eyes away from Neji. Neji didn't seem to mind. His typical smirk gave way to a gorgeous smile.

"Kanpai¹."

"Kanpai", the Nara managed.

Both men drank. Shikamaru found his trembling had returned, but it was different from before. Gone was the out-and-out anxiety he had been experiencing earlier. Now there was…anticipation.

Neji took the cup from Shikamaru's hand, walked over and placed them both back on the tray.

Neji stood up directly in front of his partner. They were eye to eye and close enough that they were sharing breaths again. Neji could smell the soap on Shikamaru's skin. Shikamaru could feel Neji's erection grazing his own through the two robes.

No one spoke. No one moved, except to breathe in the intoxicating essence of the other. The sound of classical music wafted through the dimly lit room. It was too much for the Nara, who closed his eyes.

* * *

Shikamaru opened his eyes again to find the Hyuuga's hand hovering near his clean-shaven face. Neji closed that distance then, rubbing his fingertips gently across his jaw, then up and just as gently across Shikamaru's bottom lip. The Nara's eyes were locked on Neji's face, seeing expressions etched into those features he'd only imagined.

Using both hands, Neji reached around to grab Shikamaru by the ass, hauling him off his feet. "Wrap your legs around me."

Shikamaru was stunned. He knew the Hyuuga was strong, but he never thought he'd find himself being carried! Shikamaru did as he was told, locking his legs at the ankle around Neji's waist and his arms around Neji's neck. The Hyuuga turned and walked toward the bed with the Nara in tow, hands gripping him tightly. Neji let go of Shikamaru on top of the bed.

"Go", he told him.

Without a word, the Nara crawled on his knees to the middle of the bed, followed closely by his partner. Then they were kneeling in front of each other there, Shikamaru making deft work of untying and removing the Hyuuga's robe while the Neji attacked the spot between his throat and shoulder. Shikamaru barely had a chance to touch Neji in kind before he followed suit, urgently peeling away the fluffy white robe from the Nara's body.

Neji locked gazes with Shikamaru. He then lifted his right hand to his face and licked his palm from his wrist to the tip of his longest finger. Before Shikamaru could fully register the erotic motion the Hyuuga used that hand to reach down and take hold of the Nara's extraordinary erection.

Shikamaru squeezed his eyes shut and moaned.

Neji stroked, using the already considerable amount of pre-cum leaking from the tip to ease his way.

The Nara hissed. "Neji—"

"_Shhhhhh_", the Hyuuga responded, then leaned his head against the Nara's ear. "Does this feel good?" Neji whispered into Shikamaru's ear.

The Nara was crumbling, it was almost too much. It was all he could do to remain upright on his knees. He nodded. Neji took Shikamaru's hand at the wrist and guided it until his arm was wrapped around the Hyuuga's naked waist. The Nara's other arm followed. While Neji stroked, Shikamaru rested his forehead on the Hyuuga's shoulder, taking in his scent and the feel of that hair against his skin. The Nara's breathing became ragged.

Neji used the hand that wasn't stroking the Nara as a brace against Shikamaru's back as he eased their bodies down on the bed. Now the Nara was lying on the bed with his bent legs slightly spread while Neji was upright between them, still stroking that long, hard member.

"Gods, Nara, this thing is obscene", Neji told him in a sexy voice, his hair a thick dark shroud around his body. "How long is it? Ten inches?"

"Twelve", the Nara managed. He was in a kind of pain. The vision of the Hyuuga's perfect naked body kneeling over him, eyes watching him, hand stroking him—it was too much. Shikamaru tried to close his eyes to block out the image but couldn't block the feel of that hand on his cock or the smell of their heated arousal hanging in the air around them. The Nara was already sure he would black out when he came.

"If he got to see this, it's no wonder that man offered to bottom for you." The Nara's head shifted from side to side while he arched his back. Neji's strong hand on his cock felt good—too good.

"I wasn't…erect", Shikamaru managed.

"Knowing he was watching you didn't make you hard, Nara?"

"The only thing that…makes me hard…is you."

As the weight of that statement settled in Neji's mind the hand stroking the Nara's cock changed speed. "Is that true?"

"It's true. I swear."

Those pastel eyes that watched him softened. Neji let go of Shikamaru's erection only to get down on all fours over his prone body. He leaned his head to hover over the Nara's ear again. Shikamaru could feel Neji's erection brushing his own. "For how long, Nara?"

Shikamaru's breathing was regulating, but his heart was going even faster. He had known the time for confession was coming, and now it was here. "Since you've known me."

Neji's expression grew serious instantly. "You've been running from yourself a long time."

"I told you, I didn't think you'd want me like this. I didn't know what else to do."

Neji couldn't believe it. Shikamaru was confessing his desire from the very first day! How had they worked together all this time without the Hyuuga knowing the Nara's true feelings? "Shikamaru…we've wasted a lot of time." The Hyuuga reached beneath the pillow next to Shikamaru's head and pulled a small pouch from beneath it. "I don't want to waste any more."

Shikamaru watched as Neji opened the small pouch and took two cock rings and a tube of lube from inside. The Hyuuga put a cock ring on himself first, and then put the other one on Shikamaru. The Nara was grateful for the foresight. Indeed, the Hyuuga seemed to be prepared for everything tonight.

The Hyuuga grabbed the small bag and pulled one more thing from inside, holding it up for the Nara's inspection.

"Shikamaru, I know you're new at this." He shook the plastic-wrapped square in the air. "If you want me to use this, I will." Shikamaru's expression didn't change. He reached for the condom and took it, tossing it somewhere, anywhere.

"Neji, I have trusted you with my life for two years. Honestly, we don't need that."

Neji smiled, an honest-to-Gods smile and Shikamaru knew it made him someone important the moment he saw it.

Neji bit his lip. There was only one thing left to do.

* * *

Neji bent to give his partner a kiss. It began slowly, a tasting of each other's tongues. Neji drew back to look the Nara in the eyes and was disarmed by the undisguised lust he saw there. Neji took in the entire scene: Shikamaru lying there beneath Neji on his back, his arms stretched out above his head, his shoulder-length jet-black hair a halo around his face. He looked so…lusty lying there, begging to be touched, to be tasted. The Nara's eyes found the Hyuuga's again and that look of longing was pulling at him once more. _Take me,_ it begged the Hyuuga.

He didn't need to be told twice.

Neji's next kiss wasn't gentle. It wasn't asking; it was demanding. _Give me,_ it ordered the Nara. Shikamaru complied: he wove his hands into Neji's lion's mane and met his attack on the Nara's mouth with a counterattack of his own. Neji ground his hips down against Shikamaru's in a desperate attempt to incite him further. The Nara arched into those grinding hips and moaned into Neji's mouth. Both cocks were fully erect and twitching in time to the other's rhythm.

Neji broke the kiss, running his tongue along Shikamaru's neck to his pec where he closed his mouth over the Nara's nipple. He ran his hands up and down the Nara's hips, preparing them for his crushing grip.

"Neji", Shikamaru moaned, and arched again. The Hyuuga could feel pre-cum on his chest. He moved to the Nara's other nipple, licking, biting and sucking. His hands never stopped moving.

Shikamaru's head was shifting from side to side. He was overloading on sensations. He hadn't been touched this way in years, and to now be touched this way by the very man he's wanted for so long—it really was too much. The Nara's body twitched everywhere, even in places that didn't normally respond. He understood on some level inside him that, even though he'd never been with a man before, he needed the Hyuuga inside him, filling him, bringing him safely beyond the fringe.

"_Gods_, Neji." It was a plea, a desperate plea.

Neji moved lower on the Nara's torso, nipping at his sides and then licking the bite marks for measure. Shikamaru squirmed. Neji then reached for the lube he'd pulled from the small bag before, bringing it closer but not opening it.

The Nara's twitching cock was just under Neji's chin. He lifted himself from the Nara's body and locked eyes with the sweating, flushing, panting man.

Neji grabbed the lube and opened it, and Shikamaru's cock bobbed as the scent of coconut hit his nostrils. How had Neji known?

"You know," the Hyuuga spoke as he coated his hands, "I never liked the scent of coconut. Then I started working with you." Neji closed the bottle and laid it to the side, then reached for the Nara's cock once more. "Sometimes you come to work in the morning with it all over you." Neji began pumping the base above the cock ring in earnest. "Right now it's making me want to fuck you until you can't walk."

Shikamaru moaned. That cock ring was coming in handy; The Nara was sure he'd be exploding all over his partner right now if it wasn't there.

This new Neji was easily as sexually formidable as he was physically strong. It was thrilling the Nara but he couldn't help but admit to a bit of anxiety as well. Shikamaru was accustomed to being the aggressor in the sexual dynamic. This new role for him would take some getting used to. Fortunately, he loved to hear Neji talk dirty.

"Now," Neji announced, "let's see how much of this I can take at once." Neji lowered his head.

* * *

**A/N:** (1) I used this word in a previous chapter. For those who don't know, _Kanpai_ translates to "cheers".

Okay, people, part one of my super-sexy lemon is complete! I would love to know what you think. Please review.

Part two is on its way!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Part two of what I hope is a very satisfying lemon. Enjoy people!

* * *

The Nara growled. The first touch of that warm mouth and tongue over the tip of Shikamaru's erection sent him into overdrive. He arched his back sharply into a dry orgasm. Neji gripped one hip to push his body back to the bed while he continued to suck him into that warm, moist cavern. That's when Shikamaru felt the tip of the first finger massaging the tight bloom of his ass.

The Nara squirmed. He'd had the girls put their fingers there before, so he was no stranger to the sensation; still, it had been some time. The tug-of-war between the sight and sensation of Neji's mouth on his cock, and being teased by Neji's finger was driving him crazy.

"Oh, _GODS_, Neji!" Shikamaru was certain another dry orgasm was imminent.

He was right. Neji pushed that finger past the bloom, and the Nara came again.

With both hands busy the Hyuuga didn't have a spare one to use to hold the Nara down; consequently, Neji almost choked when Shikamaru arched into another orgasm. He reacted quickly, raising his entire body in sync with Shikamaru's. As the Nara came back down to the bed the Hyuuga removed that hand from his cock and gripped his hip forcefully.

That's when he pulled out the finger, added another finger and pushed in again, even further this time. The Nara hissed.

"Ah! Neji!"

The Hyuuga pulled back until just the tip of the Nara's penis was inside his mouth. Then, just as those deft fingers inside Shikamaru moved in a scissor motion, Neji sucked. _Hard._

And Shikamaru growled. "_Dammit_, Neji! Enough! _Enough!_"

But it wasn't enough. Neji wasn't as long as his partner—seven inches compared to his twelve—but he was a little thicker. Being stretched with two fingers, even fingers as thick as Neji's, wouldn't be enough to temper the discomfort. "We're not ready yet, Shikamaru."

Neji moved his fingers around inside Shikamaru, trying to find that special spot. He licked the thick vein on the underside of the Nara's long penis with the tip of his tongue.

"Neji…tell me what to do. Tell me what to do." The Nara's voice was strained. His head shifted from side to side. The fingers inside stretched him painfully while the mouth on his cock was bringing him to orgasm over and over. The Nara was sure he was going to die like this…he suddenly wanted that cock ring to be gone, to have the full release that was being denied him.

"Fuck my fingers, Shikamaru. Help me stretch it out so you can take me all the way."

That was what the Nara needed to hear. He dug his heels into the bed, searched his mind until he could locate the sensation of those fingers and focused, as best he could, on grinding himself into them.

"That's it. I'm going to add another one, Shikamaru." Neji withdrew the fingers as Shikamaru pulled back, then thrust back into him with three fingers as he ground down.

"Neji!" Tears sprang from the corners of Shikamaru's eyes. The three fingers were stretching him beyond his comfort level, and it stung.

"You're doing so well, Shikamaru. I can't wait to push myself in there where my fingers are. I want you so much I can barely stand it." Neji licked the tip of Shikamaru's penis again.

That's when he found it.

Shikamaru arched again when Neji's fingers scraped that spot. The Hyuuga archived the location of his fingers and that spot in his mind for future reference. In the meantime he worked it with his fingers a bit more, garnering more reaction from the Nara.

"_Shit!" _the Nara exclaimed.

"One more finger, Shikamaru. Can you handle that?" Neji asked. He loved how responsive the Nara was.

Shikamaru wanted to say no, to tell his lover to withdraw those damnable fingers and impale him with his cock, but he really wasn't in any condition to be barking out orders. His current frame of mind could hardly be considered rational. "One…more," he agreed.

The Nara fought for control. He searched the fog in his mind again for a clearing, and found it. Once there, he attempted to regulate his breathing and focus on grinding himself down on those magical fingers.

"Gods, Shikamaru…this is going to be so good. We're going to be so good." Neji tried not to think about his own cock, which was straining the cock ring for all its worth. He kept reminding himself that, very soon, he'd be balls deep in Shikamaru.

_His_ Shikamaru. _His_.

Four thick, lubed fingers worked themselves in and out of the passion-crazed man whose body only half-lay on the bed. The other parts of him were arching furiously in response to a variety of sensations caused by the mouth, hands, and yes hair of one Neji Hyuuga, who was dangerously close to a dry orgasm himself from just watching. The Hyuuga wanted Shikamaru's passion unleashed on him. He forced those fingers as far inside as they could go. The Nara ground down on them as much as he could, gritting his teeth from the pain, eager for the pleasure. His eyes watered. His head shifted from side to side. Sometimes his hands reached out for his lover; at other times they wound themselves into Shikamaru's own hair, tugging as he whimpered the Hyuuga's name in frustration. And Neji knelt, pumped his fingers relentlessly, and watched in fascination.

Until it was enough.

"Shikamaru." It was Neji's voice invading the fog.

Shikamaru focused his gaze on the exotically beautiful man above him and was shocked when he felt the Hyuuga withdraw his hand from his body. Neji adjusted his position between Shikamaru's legs, and then spread them wide.

"Beautiful." Neji reached for the lube again.

Shikamaru's eyes went wide. He needed Neji to fill him again. He watched in fascination as Neji slathered coconut-scented lube on his cock, which had turned an angry shade of purple at the tip. It looked as though it would detonate any second. "Neji."

The Hyuuga took himself in hand and moved forward. He looked every bit like an animal closing in on its prey.

Neji rubbed the tip of his penis against Shikamaru's opening, but didn't push. Frustrated, the Nara tried to grind down, but Neji's hand gripped his hip to restrain him.

"Tell me what to do", he told Shikamaru, repeating his words from earlier.

The Nara blinked. "Fuck me until I can't walk", he told Neji, repeating _his_ words from earlier.

The Hyuuga smiled. "Hold on to something." Then Neji pushed.

* * *

"_Shit!"_

"_Fuck, Neji!"_

The Hyuuga's cock slid into the tight passage. Neji grunted and pushed more, and it slid in deeper. Shikamaru was busy clenching his muscles, trying to absorb that cock into his body but it had the effect of stopping it in its tracks instead.

"_Ah_, don't do that!" It was too hot. It was too tight. Neji wasn't going to last much longer, cock ring be damned. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to move for a few seconds.

"Ah, fuck, Neji—_move!"_ Neji and Shikamaru had become reduced to panting, sweaty messes, each wearing a cock ring that was being stretched to its limit. Neither man knew how much time they had left, but they knew it couldn't be much.

Neji opened his eyes and pulled back, which took some effort. It was so slick and hot—and tight, unbearably tight. Neji couldn't remember ever feeling pleasure like this before. It was blowing his mind. He held himself up on rigid arms and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

Shikamaru squirmed. "_Ah_, Neji...give me everything you've got. Don't hold back. _Please_. I can take it. I can take it I swear—"

Neji growled. He could endure many things, but the sound of his Shikamaru begging the Hyuuga to pound into him was more than he could withstand. Neji adjusted his grip on the Nara's hips and slammed forward.

"_Aaaaah!"_ Despite the intensity of the pain Shikamaru arched into that thrust, eager to take it all the way in.

Neji pulled back and slammed in again. If Shikamaru wanted everything, he'd give it to him.

"_Neji!_" Shikamaru shouted.

They established a rhythm that quickly became demanding as each man gave their all to the other. Neji repeatedly slammed in balls deep, determined to brand the Nara as his own. Shikamaru met him thrust for thrust with two years of pent-up passion. The pain he forced himself to endure quickly gave way to a spiral of pleasure that was pulling him in. Shikamaru dug his nails into the sheets, into his scalp, into his lover's arms—anywhere he could find purchase. All that his mind could conceive was being thoroughly taken by his Neji and the pleasure, the unbelievable, unstoppable pleasure.

"_Neji!" _Shikamaru shouted between grunts. Neji was vaguely cognizant of the fact that the typically clear-headed, strategic-thinking man he was pounding into the mattress beneath him couldn't manage anything more than shouting the Hyuuga's name--and Neji loved it.

"Ah! Neji! F-faster!"

The Hyuuga's eyes were wild. He was panting hard and sweating profusely. _Damn_, this felt so _good_! Without pulling out, Neji pulled Shikamaru's legs up by the knees and positioned them so that each of the Nara's heels lay flat against Neji's shoulders. Remembering where the Nara's special spot was located, Neji adjusted his angle, pulled back, and buried himself in his lover again, this time increasing the pace of his thrusting. He hit his target instantly.

"_AAAAAAAH!!"_ Shikamaru's body was seized by another dry orgasm.

Neji's hair was like a wild shroud around them both. Using every muscle in his powerful body, the Hyuuga pistoned himself brutally into the man beneath him, past the constriction of those clenching muscles around his cock. Shikamaru's shouts became one long wail, like a siren on a squad car. Neji didn't relent until his own dry orgasm seized him and his head flew back, hair fanning out over him. He thrust feebly once or twice in an attempt to ride it out. When it was over, he barely had the strength in his arms to keep himself from collapsing on his lover.

Neji needed release. _They_ needed release. "Shikamaru…on three", he panted. The Nara managed a nod, reluctant to speak for the way his throat burned. It was time.

"1-2-3!"

With shaky hands, both men reached for the cock rings and unlatched them. There was audible moaning and swearing as they were tossed carelessly aside. Neji quickly began pistoning into that hot, tight space again like a man possessed. Shikamaru's hand flew to his straining erection and pumped it a few times before it erupted in long, hot streams of cum. When those muscles clamped down on him again, Neji threw his head back and emptied himself inside his lover in a screaming orgasm that didn't seem to end.

Neji came to a few moments later. His head was nestled in the crook of Shikamaru's shoulder. He was at once aware of their two hearts pounding furiously.

Neji lifted his head and looked at Shikamaru, whose eyes were closed and wasn't moving. "Shikamaru?" he called. No response. Neji smirked. The Nara looked so peaceful lying there, so beautiful. The realization that he would indeed be tucking Shikamaru in tonight did something warm to the Hyuuga's heart.

On shaky limbs Neji lifted himself up and untangled his body from that of his lover. He sat back on his haunches then. The Hyuuga's hair clung to his sticky, sweaty skin, and he was tired. He crawled toward the edge of the bed, deciding to use what little strength he had left to get them both cleaned up enough until they could bathe in the morning and then to lie down to sleep beside his lover.

* * *

Neji Hyuuga woke up at the same time every morning, almost without fail. This morning he awoke to a warm body beside him and aching muscles. He knew if he tried to go back to sleep he would be late, so he moved off of the bed, stealthily so as not to jostle the man who had not moved from that position since the night before.

Neji made a face. The room reeked of sweaty man-sex. _He_ reeked of sweaty man-sex. He imagined for a moment what the cleaning crew would think if they stepped into the room just then. Neji made his way to the bathroom for a shower. He would forego taijutsu just this once. The Hyuuga planned to go to work, but to try to come back as soon as he could. He was happy that Shikamaru was finally getting the sleep he needed, but he didn't want him to wake up alone.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay…they did it. Talk amongst yourselves. Please leave me a review with your thoughts.

Another chapter is coming, folks. Stay tuned…


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Many thanks to those who have supported this fic. It is greatly appreciated.

* * *

The hot water from the shower wasn't waking Neji up as efficiently as it usually did. He was tired. He had only gotten a fraction of his usual amount of sleep, and he hadn't even practiced his taijutsu. The Hyuuga would be a zombie during his shift today.

But it would be worth it, Neji decided. Last night had been epic. Neji's partner of two years had become his lover.

_Shikamaru_. The man had wanted him all this time. Why hadn't he said anything? Why hadn't Neji figured it out? The two of them were the most strategic minds the precinct had to offer. They could decode, decrypt and outfraud the very best of them. They worked side-by-side in profound harmony every day, and spoke to each other almost every night, for two solid years. Neji had often wondered if the Nara had felt need of him the way he felt need of the Nara. Now, he knew the truth. It was a shame that so much time had been lost.

They were both so alike. They lived and breathed their work, and they were the best at it. Neither one dated. Neither one questioned it either.

Neji was feeling possessive of the Nara. He felt like he'd obtained something that no one else had ever had. He wanted to shout it to the world. He'd love to go to work and tell all their colleagues that Shikamaru Nara was his and that he belonged to Shikamaru Nara. Maybe they would know, some day.

Neji was vaguely cognizant of the hot water stinging his skin. He held up his arms. They were covered in scratches. When had Shikamaru done that?

Neji reached for his shampoo, and set about the task of washing his long mane, massaging his scalp with deft fingers. His arms were still very sore. In fact, his entire body felt as if he'd been competing in a taijutsu competition for the past 24 hours. Neji's mind drifted back to last evening. Neji was the only man the Nara had ever been with. His ass was so tight—Neji hadn't known it was possible to be so tight! Shikamaru had begged Neji to give him everything, and he had taken it well. And the way he said the Hyuuga's name, over and over, as though Neji were the center of his universe. He tasted so good. And he came, so many times…

Neji smiled._ I am the man._

_Shit_, Neji thought to himself, looking down. He made to rinse the shampoo from his hair and then reached for the conditioner. He'd use most of that in his hair, and save some to slather on his suddenly swollen, twitching cock.

* * *

A thoroughly clean, relieved and dripping wet Neji stood inside his expansive walk-in closet, naked as the day he was born, contemplating his wardrobe. He was in a unique mood, and wanted to wear something to fit the occasion. The Hyuuga spotted a long-sleeved black silk shirt, and reached for it. _Black_, he thought to himself. _Because I am the man._ Neji fished a hanger holding a pair of camel-colored pleated trousers from another rack. _Now, a tie._ What color tie would go with this shirt? It was black—most anything would work. Suddenly, he thought of his lover, who lay in his bed in a deep sleep. Shikamaru never wore a tie to work. Today he wouldn't be working, though. Neji decided that, in honor of the sexy Shikamaru Nara and his amazingly tight ass—the one that was now the exclusive property of Neji Hyuuga--he would forego a tie. Neji walked out of his closet to get dressed for work.

_Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta._

* * *

By the time he'd finished getting dressed, Neji was feeling more alert. Checking himself out in the mirror, he decided that he was glowing. His hair shone. His watch shone. His shoes shone. His smile shone. He was shiny today. And he certainly felt…shiny, too. Almost like he'd been shot in the ass with a syringe full of smiley faces. Is this what it would be like to be with Shikamaru? It was so unlike Neji to be…gregarious.

Neji walked over to the bed where Shikamaru lay. The vision of the man sleeping caused the Hyuuga's breath to catch in his throat. At that moment, he couldn't remember ever seeing anything more beautiful up close. Neji bent to place a light kiss on the Nara's lips, and then whispered, "I'll be back soon."

_My Shikamaru. Mine_, Neji thought to himself as he left for work.

* * *

Neji pulled into the parking garage and parked the Nara's car next to his own. He got out of the Lexus and did a quick inspection of his BMW, which had been parked there since yesterday morning. Satisfied that everything was okay, Neji went inside the precinct.

Morning muster didn't begin until 0700, but Neji had arrived a few minutes early. He put his things on his desk and decided to get himself a cup of tea. He stood in the break room, holding the Styrofoam cup in his hand and, closing his eyes, took in the aroma of the tea as it brewed in the cup. It made him think of Shikamaru, who always came to the shift meeting with a cup of tea.

People walking by stopped and stared as the Hyuuga stood and inhaled the scent of the tea in his hand. By all accounts it was an unusual scene to witness.

Neji went into the meeting room and found his seat, as usual. He sat silently, having lost the battle with his urge to smirk, and sipped his tea.

"Hyuuga", someone called out. Neji looked up to see the blond detective he'd been told was the Uzumaki. "Nice job on that case."

"Thank you", was Neji's pleasant response. The Hyuuga didn't actually smile but it was there, in his voice. Neji took another sip of his tea. Shikamaru should be there next to him, fielding kudos. They cracked that case together.

* * *

The shift meeting was routine, with one exception. The shift commander had chosen today of all days to call out the efforts of the team of the Nara and the Hyuuga on one particular case. Neji found himself the subject of applause--and stares, because he was sitting alone for the first time in two years. Where was the Nara? No one had asked, but it was clear from their expressions that they were curious.

Neji got up from his seat when the meeting ended. He was on his way to talk to the shift commander about the Nara when he found his path suddenly blocked. Neji looked up to find Kiba Inuzuka standing there.

Gone were Neji's smirk and his happy-go-lucky mood_. Cue the buzzkill,_ Neji thought to himself.

"Well if it isn't the centerfold", the Inuzuka greeted in a voice laced with sarcasm. "Where's your partner?"

"Not here", was the Hyuuga's response. Neji braced himself. He was fully prepared to bum-rush the idiot Inuzuka if necessary to get back home to Shikamaru. He wasn't in the mood for this game.

"That's interesting", Kiba responded, "because his car is here. But then, you already knew that didn't you?" The Inuzuka stood with his arms crossed and a smug expression on his boyish face.

"What do you want, Inuzuka?" Neji asked in a disinterested voice. The discussion had already become tiresome.

"I want to know where your partner is, Hyuuga. I know you left here with him last night and today he is nowhere to be found. What'd you do? Kill him and stuff his body in the trunk? Get him drunk? Or maybe you did something else?"

"When my partner returns, you can ask him yourself", was Neji's calm response.

Kiba wasn't satisfied. To the shock of the growing crowd around them, Kiba moved forward, closer to the Hyuuga and locked gazes.

"But I'm asking you, Hyuuga." Kiba gave the taller man an up-and-down perusal with his eyes. "You're not wearing your clothes from yesterday, or anything I've ever seen your partner wearing, which means you got dressed at home. That implies you took him to your place. So what'd you do to him, Hyuuga?"

Neji hadn't realized until just then how closely the Inuzuka had been watching him and his partner. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised, but seriously, didn't the guy have anything more constructive to do with his time? Neji stood his ground, but he was losing patience. "I don't believe either of us is required to answer to you Inuzuka, now move out of my way."

Kiba's expression changed. Now he was just angry. "You fucked him, didn't you?" Kiba asked him. He didn't care who heard him. "He isn't here because he's too sore to move. You must have worn him out pretty good. _Man_, you're just full of surprises. I had you pegged for a bottom."

_Someone should have told you what happened to the last guy who mistook me for a bottom, _Neji thought to himself, feeling his expression change._ Yes, I fucked him._ _He begged me to. He squealed my name over and over. Now he's lying in my big bed, naked and unconscious. I branded that sweet ass of his because I AM THE MAN, he is mine now and if you so much as look in our direction again--_

"I guess that _is_ a partner-only privilege, eh, Hyuuga? You special investigators have all the—"

_Fuck this._

Kiba didn't finish his sentence. Before he knew what was happening he found himself turned around and pinned painfully against a wall with one arm in danger of being ripped from its joint by one fed-up special investigator. Kiba tried to defend himself, but in vain. The Hyuuga was far more skilled and blocked every one of the Inuzuka's moves effortlessly.

"_Ow_! Fuck, Hyuuga, _get off me!"_ Kiba screamed, struggling to free himself from Neji's vice-like grip. Neji applied more pressure to the arm and kicked his feet apart. The Inuzuka wailed.

"_Ow_! Damn you Hyuuga get off me _right now!"_

"Or _what_, Inuzuka?" the Hyuuga asked in a voice laced with impatience, a voice that Kiba had never heard before. Panic seeped in quickly. The Inuzuka tried to pull his arm free.

"Careful, Inuzuka", Neji warned, his hold on the officer never faltering, "you keep struggling and that arm is going to pop right out of its joint."

Kiba was on the verge of tears. He could feel the grinding in his shoulder from his arm being shifted out of position as well as muscles surrounding them being pulled beyond their limit. The pain was increasing steadily. The room was full of cops who simply stood there, watching. Kiba couldn't move and the Hyuuga wouldn't let go.

A draft and the sensation of hair tickling his face told the Inuzuka that the Hyuuga had shifted behind him. The next thing he knew there was a voice at his ear.

"This is the only other time I'm going to tell you", the Hyuuga stated in that impatient voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "and the only warning you're ever going to get from me."

"I'm—" Neji applied a jolt of pressure to the arm, causing the Inuzuka to grunt.

"Not—"more pressure; more grunting.

"Interested." Neji leaned the weight of his entire body against Kiba's arm before stepping back and releasing it, causing the tortured Inuzuka to fall to the floor in a heap.

"_Aaah!_" Kiba wailed. The pain was excruciating.

"Is there a problem?"

Both Kiba and Neji looked toward the direction of the voice to find the shift commander standing there with an unreadable expression in his eerily mismatched eyes. It was impossible to read his entire face because a black mask covered it from the nose down.

"No, sir", was Neji's calm response. Kiba sat on the floor pouting but didn't respond.

The shift commander's eyes locked with Neji's. "In my office, Hyuuga, like it already happened."

"Yes sir." Neji made his way to the shift commander's office without looking back.

* * *

A put-out Inuzuka watched as Neji left the room with the shift commander and the crowd dispersed. A parade of cops who simply stared and shook their heads walked by him. Kiba was trying unsuccessfully to get up from the floor using only one arm. He looked up to find Naruto Uzumaki standing there, arms crossed, shaking his head and tsk-ing.

The Inuzuka scowled. "You lost, Uzumaki?"

"Gods, Inuzuka", Naruto asked, "why does it _always_ have to be by the scruff of the neck with you?"

"Fuck you, Uzumaki!" was Kiba's response.

"Sorry, Bowser", Naruto replied, "but you don't make the cut. I prefer redheads.¹" And with that, the Uzumaki walked away.

Kiba sat there close to tears muttering something about blond cops who are full of shit when he sensed someone else standing nearby. He turned his head and looked up to find Kabuto Yakushi standing over him, extending his hand.

"It's probably sprained", was all he said.

Without a word Kiba extended his good arm to Kabuto, who leaned down and pulled him off the floor.

* * *

**A/N: (1)** that was my reverent nod to my other OTP, NaruGaa. I couldn't find a suitable place for Gaara in this fic, but I had to mention him since his Naruto is in here.

The song _Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta_ is a **Geto Boys** monstrosity; I take no credit for it.

Neji's not used to having these kinds of feelings, is he, LOL?

I decided to bring Kiba back since he's the one dumb enough to actually ask Neji where his partner ran off to. Yes, the Inuzuka takes one for the team in this chapter. And from _the man_, no less!

The next chapter is the final chapter, folks.

Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Here we have it, folks—the final chapter.

This has been, by far, my hardest chapter to write. Never mind that insane lemon or the eleven chapters of (sometimes humorous) foreplay that preceded it. In this chapter, we have the same two people we started with, with one vital exception. They are completely exposed to one another, with no more secrets between them. All those carefully constructed boundaries upon which a very successful partnership is based are now set aside. They are in a place they traveled for two years of their lives to get to, about to embark on a different journey as lovers. How their journey goes is limited only by the imagination, but for my money, it couldn't have happened to two better _Naruto_ characters.

Not surprisingly, this chapter is the longest one of all. I only hope I did this WAFF-y happy ending the justice deserving of The Genius Ship. Write me a review and let me know, won't you?

I've had a great time writing this. If you've been here since chapter one, then, from the very, very bottom of my heart, I thank you.

* * *

Shikamaru felt himself falling in an unnatural kind of darkness that swallowed light. It was warm, and he was falling slowly. He couldn't tell how long he'd been falling and he couldn't see anything. He didn't even know if his eyes were opened or closed.

He heard a voice—a familiar voice in the darkness, and it made him want to stop his leisurely fall. The voice was becoming louder, and he felt his fall slowing. The darkness began to let up. The voice got louder. Shikamaru opened his eyes.

"There you are."

Shikamaru blinked, his eyes adjusting to the light in the room. He was looking at a ceiling he didn't recognize right away. The smell of the room was familiar, and all at once comforting. Then the voice he remembered from his dream spoke again.

"Are you all right?"

Shikamaru shifted his head in the direction of the voice. There on the bed sat his partner of two years and lover of twelve hours, Neji Hyuuga. He wore nothing but a pair of black sleeping pants. His hair was loose, falling like a curtain around his shoulders. He looked every bit like an angel, his pastel eyes focused on the Nara's face. And he looked…happy. The reassuring thought brought a smile to Shikamaru's face.

Memories of the past 24 hours flooded the Nara's mind. Then he blushed furiously.

Neji chuckled at the man's blush. "I'll take that as a yes." _I am the man_.

Shikamaru went to raise his hand to rub his eyes and found himself swaddled in two fluffy white robes. He raised his head and made a move to sit up when searing pain flared all over his body.

"_Aaah!"_ the Nara yelped and fell back on the bed, his eyes wide with shock. The parts of his body he could feel were sore to the bone and _man_, was his throat raw. "Dammit, Neji!" Shikamaru muttered weakly. He was grimacing.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru." Neji bit his lip. For all his preparation the night before Neji had neglected to give his lover some aspirin. "Let's get you into the bathroom. I'm sure you have to go and I've drawn you a bath so you can get cleaned up."

"How the _fuck_ am I supposed to get to the bathroom? I can't even feel my fucking le—"

Neji leaned over the Nara's body on all fours and kissed him lightly on the lips, interrupting his tirade and savoring the taste of him again. Shikamaru eagerly responded, the words dying in his throat at the gentle pressure of those sweet lips against his own. It felt so good to kiss him and Shikamaru knew he'd endure the pain again for more of this.

Neji lifted his head away. "Good morning, beautiful."

Shikamaru smiled again. "You're the beautiful one. I'm the stinky one."

"You're a man, Shikamaru, men get stinky. Besides, it's nothing a swim in my bathtub won't cure."

"I hope you're planning to carry me, because I won't get there on my own any time soon."

"As a matter of fact I am"

"Well, you certainly are a gentleman."

"Well, when you consider the request you made last night, I don't know how I could have avoided having to carry you around today."

The Nara blushed again at that statement even as the jostling from being lifted into his lover's arms, moved off the bed and carried to the bathroom was tormenting him. _Gods_, his body hurt. Shikamaru felt like he'd been in another car accident.

For the second time in twelve hours Shikamaru found himself being carried by his big, strong, beautiful lover—and he found it mollifying. He could get used to it. In fact, he decided that being the Hyuuga's lover was definitely rife with perks.

* * *

Shikamaru's use of his body was limited to the point where Neji had to act as his arms _and_ legs as he went to the bathroom. Shikamaru didn't think things could be more humiliating, but Neji reassured him by telling him he'd been far more exposed the night before. The Hyuuga set him down, wiped him, then lifted and carried him over to the bathtub to set him gently into the pool of warm bubbly water.

Neji turned on the jets to soothe Shikamaru's muscles. The Nara sank into the water all the way, saturating his sticky, sweaty hair, and then surfaced. With some difficulty, he managed to find a reasonable position in which to sit and soak his aching body.

Neji sat and watched the handsome man in his bathtub, unwilling and unable to disguise the joy he was feeling. He was so receptive to everything that was happening, as if he had been waiting for it all this time.

"You know", Shikamaru spoke over the sound of the jets, "I think I'll be all right here for a bit, if there's something else you need to do."

"Is that your subtle way of telling me you want to be alone?" Neji asked.

_Not in a million years,_ Shikamaru thought but didn't say out loud. "No, I just didn't want you to feel like you had to play nursemaid."

"What if I like taking care of you?" Neji asked.

Shikamaru smiled. "Be careful. I might get used to that."

"I'm banking on it." Neji stood up then, and Shikamaru watched as the Hyuuga untied the tie at the waistband of his sleeping pants and allowed them to fall to a puddle at his feet, stepping out of them and then kicking them to the side. Now he stood near the tub in all his naked glory.

_Oh, Gods_. Shikamaru didn't think he'd ever get used to the sight of Neji's incredible physique. The Hyuuga wasn't bulky, but every part of his lean, pale body strained with muscle. How could one man be so profoundly breathtakingly beautiful? He really was a living work of art.

Without meaning to Shikamaru's eyes fell on the source of his aching muscles, which hung flaccid between Neji's legs. In spite of himself, the Nara blushed again. The Hyuuga didn't seem to notice.

"Is there room for one more?" Neji asked, looking at Shikamaru.

The Nara pondered the question for a few moments, contemplating its dual meaning. His life the past two years consisted only of his work with the Hyuuga. Was Neji asking permission to be part of the Nara's personal life as well? Shikamaru thought so, and it made him feel like the luckiest man alive.

"There's room for you", was how he responded.

The Hyuuga smiled as he slowly stepped into the tub of water. He placed his hand at the Nara's back to move him forward gently. "Scoot up", he directed. Shikamaru complied gingerly. Neji sat down in the water behind him then, his legs extended on either side of him, and then carefully positioned the Nara so that his head rested against Neji's chest. The Hyuuga wrapped those strong arms around his lover and exhaled deeply. They sat that way for a few moments, not speaking, content to hold and to be held.

"You like holding me, don't you?" the Nara asked.

Neji pondered the question, taking note of the way their bodies fit together in the bathtub. He loved the way the man felt in his arms. He then decided they would have to make bathing together a routine, much the way their late-night cell phone conference had become.

"Mmm", was the Hyuuga's response. "Does it bother you?"

"No. But it does take some getting used to." Shikamaru could feel Neji's heart beating.

"What time is it?" the Nara asked.

"Around eleven", Neji told him. The Hyuuga busied himself inspecting all the bruises he'd placed on his lover's body the previous evening, making sure there were none that would be visible when they both reported for duty in the morning. He didn't need another skirmish on his tally.

_Holy crap._ The Nara did the math. He'd been sleeping for—thirteen hours?! He hadn't slept that much in a long time, not that he was surprised by it. He hadn't exerted himself that way since he'd been with the girls—and their sessions were always followed by twelve or so hours of sleep. And to think, this time he hadn't even been the one on top.

"Wow. I didn't think I was capable of sleeping like that anymore. I guess I owe you my gratitude."

Neji made a face at that statement. "You owe me a hell of a lot more than that."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nara", Neji began, biting his lip, "why did you let it go on like this for so long? Why didn't you tell me how you felt about me sooner?"

"Neji, you _know_ why. I didn't want to risk losing you as my partner and I didn't think I could have you in my life any other way."

"But we've lost so much time."

"But we're here _now_, Neji. We're together _now_. Doesn't that count for anything?"

The Hyuuga hesitated. "You tell me."

"What does that mean?" the Nara asked.

"Well, are you sure you want this, Shikamaru? I know you've calculated the risks. What's changed?"

"Are you kidding? In the past 24 hours _everything_ seems to have changed." The Nara shifted, thankful that the warm bubbly water was slowly restoring his mobility. "I worry about my career. I do. This is the only thing I've ever been good at, and it makes me feel useful and important, and I've never really had that in my life EVER."

Shikamaru hesitated, anxiety gnawing at him. This next bit of information had been difficult for him to share with anyone, but he was going to share it with Neji Hyuuga.

"I was in a relationship years ago. For awhile I was the center of the universe for them, and then one day without warning, the bottom just fell out. It was all an illusion."

When Neji didn't respond, the Nara continued. "My life isn't anything like yours, Neji. My job—it's the only genuine thing I've had."

"Things are different now. You understand that, don't you Shikamaru?" Neji asked. The Nara was important to Neji now, too. He resolved to spend every day of their time together showing him just how important.

"I think I do."

Neji shifted behind his lover. "Don't tell me you _think_ you do, Nara. What part of what is happening at this moment do you not understand?"

"Look, what do you want me to do, Neji? In a million years I never imagined we'd be where we are at this moment. I still can't figure out how a guy like me got so lucky."

"Well, you better figure it out, because you are as good as stuck with me, Shikamaru. I've made my choice and I have no intention of ever letting you go."

"Do you mean that?"

"You know me well enough to know I don't say things I don't mean."

Neji's hold on the Nara tightened a bit. Shikamaru felt the gentle pressure of warm lips against his temple. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation.

"You like me, do you?" the Nara asked.

"I might even love you", Neji answered him.

Hearing that made the Nara's eyes go wide. He gulped. "Honestly?"

The Hyuuga sighed. "Well, I don't know. I don't have any experience with love. I only know I don't want to imagine my life without you in it, Shikamaru."

The Nara couldn't suppress the surge of joy he felt at hearing those words. It made him shudder all the way down his spine. He was sure the Hyuuga could feel it too. "I feel the same way."

"You better."

Shikamaru smiled. Gone was the anxiety he was feeling when he woke up in his lover's bed, but there was still the issue of how the relationship would affect his career. Being a cop wasn't the most accommodating career for two men in a relationship with each other, especially when they were partners.

"So are we really going to try to do this?" the Nara asked. "Partners--_and_ lovers?"

"No, Shikamaru. We're not going to _try_ anything. We're just going to do it."

"What makes you so sure we can pull this off?"

"Shikamaru, you and I are kindred. It's why we've worked so well as partners. Together there isn't any challenge we can't defy."

"You make it sound so simple."

"It won't always be simple, I know. But here are two of the most strategic minds in the business on the job. If I had to guess I'd say you don't have much to worry about as far as your career is concerned."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I had to explain your absence to Captain Hatake¹ this morning."

"Wait a minute—you went in to work this morning?"

"Of course."

Of course. Taking into consideration the events of the past 24 hours, calling in or simply not showing would have aroused undue suspicion. There would have been officers from the precinct at the door of both residences on the shift commander's word if Neji hadn't reported in person.

Shikamaru figured Neji must have driven the Nara's car to work—after all, the Hyuuga's car was still parked in the garage at the precinct from the previous evening. Shikamaru could only imagine the gossip it must have generated.

"What was that like?" the Nara asked.

"It was…epic. Mildly terrifying."

The Nara chuckled. "How did your chat with the captain go?"

"That was the mildly terrifying part." Neji chuckled. "But what I took away from it was the reassurance that we have the captain's support."

"Did he really tell you that?"

"In so many words, yes."

Shikamaru analyzed what his lover was telling him. If their captain had verbalized his support then it meant he had an idea that something was happening between the two men. The Nara wasn't ready to explore his feelings about that. It always haunted him that their captain seemed to know everything all the time.

Shikamaru had Neji, whether he wanted him or not, it seemed. They also had the support of their captain. By all accounts it appeared everything would be fine. Still, the Nara couldn't shake the doubts that nagged at him. A whole basket of adjustments would now need to be made, and there were so many alpha males in this scenario that had to be taken into consideration. It didn't matter what Neji told him—this was going to be like navigating a minefield.

Neji spoke, breaking the silence. "Nara, listen to me. I know you—right now you are furiously contemplating the number of ways this thing could go south. For once, don't process it like one of our cases. Let our track record speak for itself. Whatever happens, you know that I'll never turn my back on you."

The Nara knew that unequivocally. They had pledged their loyalty to each other their first day as partners. It was just the kind of men they were.

And it just brought him back to what Neji had stated in the first place. There wouldn't be any trying—if it could be done, together they would do it. And if it meant that Shikamaru had Neji and Neji had Shikamaru, then the Nara would navigate that minefield with all the guts and grace he was capable of.

The two sat in companionable silence. Shikamaru rested against his lover as the Hyuuga smoothed the Nara's wet hair back in gentle strokes. Shikamaru knew for certain that there in his Neji's arms was the best place in the world he'd ever been.

"You know I have to go home, because…that's where I live."

"Mmm", was the Hyuuga's monosyllabic response.

"I uh…I'm not sure I've recovered enough to drive or anything yet. I may still have need of your nursemaid services." Shikamaru gingerly turned his head to look the Hyuuga in the face for the first time since they'd been sitting there together. "What do you think?"

Neji smiled. "I think we can take my car this time."

END.

* * *

**A/N:** **(1)** Look for a side-fic that details the 'mildly terrifying' discussion between Neji and Captain Hatake. Coming very soon!

sigh and that's a wrap, people! Stay tuned for the side-fic and future pearls of fanfiction from me, **Prism0467!**


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